#183: Still, So Many Questions

With a little under two weeks before the Braves begin their defense of their National League East title, there are several very huge question marks for this team. Every team not named the Marlins appears to have improved during the off-season with big ticket additions via both trades and signing free agents. I am not sure who won the off season but both Phillie and New York both potentially look to be beasts and the Nats did not really hurt themselves by not retaining Bryce Harper. While Harper is recognized as a talent, his appearance of not always trying very hard all the time can be demoralizing to a team.

Josh Donaldson

So, wither the Braves. The acquisition of “The Bringer of Rain”, Josh Donaldson, was the Braves only big ticket signing this winter. The Braves other significant signings were bringing back Nick Markakis and home town favorite Brian McCann. Both may well work out to be solid additions but they gave the appearance of someone searching the thrift stores for treasure. Sure, you can pick up some real gems that someone else did not know they were valuable but it is a very rare occurrence. In other words, not everyone feels the need to clip coupons.

Two of the Braves recognized needs this winter were:
A) a front line starter to lead the staff of promising youngsters and
B) a solid vet to add to the relief corps.

Craig Kimbrel

Well, as of this writing, neither of those two positions were filled. Not surprisingly, there still two players who would fill those needs are still available as free agents. There is no question that “Dirty” Craig Kimbrel would be a very significant addition to the back end of the bull pen. The only real hangup appears to be the loss of a high value draft pick but let’s be realistic, the loss of a draft pick would probably not be felt for 5 or 6 years.

Dallas Keuchel

The same goes for Dallas Keuchel. No, he is not the same level as a Jacob DeGrome or Max Scherzer but he is a proven innings eater on a team that is desperately short on that commodity. Again, I don’t think the dollar amount for Keuchel is prohibitive but having to give up a draft pick seems to be a sticking point. Now, as it stands, we are so late into spring training neither pitcher would likely be able to join the team as they ramp up to being ready to go.

Thanks Margie for the face lift. Yes, I fear now that no matter, the pitching staff will not be a full strength when the season opens and even if the Braves were to sign a pitcher, they would not now be ready until the end of April.

if the Braves were to sign a pitcher, they would not now be ready until the end of April.

According to various reports, both Kimbrel and Keuchel are participating in a simulated Spring Training, doing most of the things they would do in a pro camp. Not sure about the live batters, who they might be, or what level they might equate to. And obviously they are not pitching in any games. But the more important point is that these pitchers are getting stretched out and building strength. If they are close to the same conditioning point as the other pitchers, each would still have the opportunity to make a couple of game appearances before the team heads north… but it has to happen now.

Of course by the time you figure all the taxes and the cost of living in California, it works out to about the same if he had signed a deal for $150 a game in Florida… 🙂 But good for him, Bryce’s stay at the top of the food chain was pretty short lived…

#Braves manager, Brian Snitker announced to The Front Row this morning that Acuña will bat clean up to start the season. Everyone has been wondering where Acuña would hit in the line-up and now we know! pic.twitter.com/VV9xelymd0

So, getting a little late winter reading in before baseball watching begins in earnest for me. I am currently about 3/4 of the way through The Phenomenon by Rick Ankiel. It is really terrific read. Rick was with the Braves only a short while but his is a fascinating story. It also give a bit of insight to some of the trials and tribulations of being someone who suddenly develop the “yips”…

Reporters were summoned to interview Noah Syndergaard in a press conference room. When they arrived, he wasn't there — or so it seemed. Syndergaard was hiding behind the podium, trying to scare people.

"I'm pretty good at hide and seek," said the 6-foot-6, 240-lb Syndergaard.

Max Fried had another solid day today, this time in a start vs. the Nats, where he pitched 5 innings giving up 5 hits, 0 runs, and rung up 7 K’s against just 1 walk. He has easily done enough this spring to earn a rotation spot… as has Kyle Wright and Bryse Wilson and Touki Toussaint.

I think we are seeing why AA isn’t seriously talking to Dallas Keuchel despite the slow starts of Folty and Gausy.

Meanwhile Adam Duvall is doing virtually nothing to change anyone’s mind about his ability to hit a baseball. Kinda sux for him as Austin Riley continues to tear the cover off the ball. Could Riles sneak onto the ML roster in a reserve role?

Yep.as much as we would all like for Adam Duvall to succeed, sometimes it just isn’t in the cards. I feel fairly confident a fourth outfielder type will be cut from among the 29 other teams who would be be a better fit, even Frenchy could do better, sadly…

Watching the un-official, official opening game of the season between the Mariners and the Athletics. The back telling my brain, you don’t need no stinking sleep, get up… Lots of hits (both by the batterers and by the pitchers bopping hitters) Hey, it is early for everyone.

Well, just 1 week plus 1 day away from Opening Day. Still no new additions to the 2019 version of Los Bravos despite 3 confirmed subtractions due to injury, all pitchers, with a possible 4th still looming.

So what does that mean for the Opening Day roster?

First, we need to qualify it to note that even though Folty, Minter, O’Day, and possibly (assumably for this exercise) Gausy will not be on the roster on March 28, they should all be added back on some time in April.

But for the purposes of this exercise, let’s take a stab at what the Opening Day roster might look like, based on Spring performances alone… and nothing else. I believe it would look something like this:

— Riles has quite simply outplayed Duvall, and the versatility of Johan, Culby and RAJ allows Riley to take that last spot. And in fairness, he also has demonstrated this spring that he can play other positions other than 3B, getting quality time in LF, RF and even 1B… which might be the important one. He’s the closest thing to a true backup 1B this team has had in many years.

— Gausy could be ready by the 5th start, but the team would be best served not activating him until he is ready to contribute. Wright has clearly won a starting job, but Fried is barely a step behind him. He has quietly had as good a spring as any pitcher. Touki has also looked good and can come out of the bullpen once Gausy is activated.

— Wes Parsons has been a nice surprise, while Chad Sobotka has struggled badly with is control. At least in the early going, I think Parsons gets the nod. Each is already on the 40-man roster and each has options left, so it’s not a difficult chance to take. And when Minter and O’Day return, they’ll both be back in AAA anyway. And if AntMan would just go ahead and sign Craig Kimbrel, it wouldn’t even matter. 😉

Caveat #1: As I mentioned, the above is based on players’ performances this spring. The organization may opt to keep Wilson stretched out as a starter in AAA, which is probably the wise thing to do.

Caveat #2: This is the time of year when teams begin to release veterans that they know will not make their roster, giving them a few days to catch on elsewhere. A final bench bat and/or final bullpen arm could still be added from the outside.

Neither Duvall nor Riley in today’s lineup, but Dansby is getting plenty of time… presumably making up for lost time early. As for Riley, he has the most AB’s of any player in camp.

Mac is also in today’s lineup. Has anyone noticed that he’s slashed an otherworldly .368/.455/.421 this spring? And by all accounts (from the many beat writers), he has looked better than Flow behind the dish. Perhaps Mac is having a post-surgery career resurgence. I hope he carries it well into to the regular season.

(Hmmm, blocked pop up blockers, and now I cannot post via firefox , went back to chrome 😦 )

Oh thank you Gil!!!!!
Nothing like that new lead smell! 🙂
just caught up on the previous lead via chrome (now back on firefox, and took ad blockers off, still can’t “like” this lead, but perhaps the page will load faster?)
but, when you read 40+ posts…uhh…umm…what was I gonna say? Go braves????
I bet Thoppy had NO clue that while Toronto drew quite a number of fans annually, the fans that both go to braves games and those that do not…are much more intense in braves country, than in kindly ol’ Canada 😉
seriously though…I recall reading that fans there were always wondering when they would make moves there to get to the next level, and…..it didn’t happen that often. And when it did, it was trading Thor….which I am sure still burns some britches there. But, Thoppy didn’t seem too scared to trade off any pitcher for the Marlins former catcher.
Do I have a point…no, it appears not. 😛
Somewhere buried in there is that I bet Thoppy thought the team AND to a lesser extent, the fans would be tickled pink with BOR (God help him and us if he gets hurt early on) , re-upping with Kakes, and bringing McCann back…and to a degree, IF BOR tears the cover off the wall, and everyone else is healthy and productive, then the offense should be just fine….but, it just doesn’t feel like the moves the other teams in the east made.
However, if the team stays in contention, midway thru the season, I have no doubt they will trade some prospects away for someone…IF “someone” is still available. Seems wrong to hope the Indians stink this year (and they have no real competition it appears save the Twins) but they may be willing to trade a rotation guy mid season if that happened.
The one good thing about giving kids a few real starts is other teams will see how they perform against the best of the best…and may wet some appetites …I know, it’s not the most exciting thing in the world to think about, but, if a few guys are truly ready now, it may be we will be happy Thoppy held back…cliche time, time….will tell!!!!

On Alex: I don’t know what is going on with him and the Braves and Liberty. I get it, Liberty is not really in the baseball business, they are in the real estate business. For them, you do not need to have a team that can win the World Series, you only need a team which can tease the fan base into believing they might be able to win.

Maybe Thoppy is concerned he is going to wind up short of quality minor leaguers because of the restrictions place upon International signings. Maybe he has seen what real A-list talent is going for. Any idea of keeping Acuna around for a home town discount went up in smoke with Mike Trout signing for 12 years for $430 million.

There are still a few years left for Freddie to play in Atlanta but does anyone really think he is going to pull a Chipper Jones and leave hundreds of million dollars on the table?

No, Atlanta is going to have to get past the sticker shock and understand if you want quality, you are now going to have to pay thru the nose for it. At least the Braves have a couple of good prospects to look forward to in Pache and Riley who will be with the big club sooner than later but while teams my not want to pay Craig Kimbrel’s asking price, someone will.

I have this question, has Atlanta ever beat Craig Kimbrel? Now, imagine if any of the NL East teams sign him. 3 games can easily be the difference between 1st and 4th place in the NL East this year.

Drive a VW or a Ford? BMW? Ferrari? All depends on what you’re willing to pay. Or, there’s me and my gorgeous 25-year-old Mercury! LOL (I love that car! Paid $12,500 for it brand new. $500 per year. Not bad. Did I ever mention that most of ancestors came from Scotland and Ireland?) 😀 😀

AJC: Braves manager Brian Snitker will be away from the team for several days following the death of his mother, Catherine. Snitker is expected to leave spring training following today’s exhibition game to travel to Illinois for the funeral. He also is expected to return to the team as soon as Saturday.

Tomlin had opted out of his minor league deal yesterday, per contract stipulations, and was expected to re-sign a new minor league deal with the Brewers. Apparently he threw the organization a curve.

That said, he’s certainly not a great starting option. Per MLBTR: He has allowed eight earned runs with nine strikeouts and two walks in his 15 spring innings. Since the start of the 2016 season, Tomlin has managed only a 4.93 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 1.1 BB/9 in 385 1/3 innings.

It’s unclear if the Braves signed him as starting depth or as a potential bullpen piece. I imagine we’ll get more clarity on that as the day goes forward.

It’s possible that they simply felt they needed some AAA starting depth given that as many as 4 of their young starters could open the season in Atlanta while Folty, Gausy, Minter and O’Day mend.

Tomlin, 34, was released Wednesday by Brewers. He had a 6.14 ERA in 32 games (9 starts) for Cleveland in 2018, and is 25-23 with 4.93 ERA in 88 games (64 starts) over last three seasons. https://t.co/iOrCkTg8ez

More MLBTR: He’s a quintessential soft-tosser, averaging 88.7 mph on his fastball in his career (87.8 mph over the past three seasons) but also demonstrating pinpoint control throughout his MLB career. Tomlin has averaged just 1.3 walks per nine innings pitched and has never allowed an average of more than 2.3 BB/9 in any single season.

Before we all lose our minds here, let’s remember he’s here on a minor league deal, and doesn’t gain a 40-man roster spot. At te moment there’s absolutely nothing to lose with this signing. And as I mentioned earlier, our starting pitching depth has taken a hit with Folty and Gausy out, and with Wright, Fried, Touki, and Wilson loking good for the major league roster.

And there ya go. That actually makes sense to me. If you carry him as a long reliever, you can allow Wilson to return to AAA and stay stretched out as a starter. If you keep Wilson on the roster, you maintain depth at AAA. I actually like the signing in that respect.

And it doesn’t impede any other possible signings yet to come… [cough –Kimbrel– cough]

Okay, sorry, my frustration is starting to bubble up and reveal itself. Must be the rain….

I have been trying to fill my idle time with college basketball. The NIT has had some terrific match ups. Close games, few one side blow outs. Also nice to not feel like I have to root for one team over another.

Also the majority of the teams are mid majors so there is less hanky panky as far as recruiting.

Alot of guys with ML experience are being released this week as their minor league deals stipulate. Basically, they signed minor league deals with opt-out clauses that allow them to walk if not added to 40-man rosters by a certain date, typically a few days before camp ends giving them a chance to hook on with a team that has a hole to fill. That’s how Josh Tomlin became free to sign with the Braves.

This may well be how Thoppy fills that last bench spot.

Duvall is in today’s lineup. One has to wonder if this is his last shot to impress. The team can save $2M by releasing him before they head north.

Ender is leading off again. I am just not loving this. I acknowledge that having RAJ bat cleanup gives him alot more RBI opportunities, but it also means there will be alot of games he doesn’t come to the plate until the 2nd inning. And I just cannot get on board with that… especially in favor of Ender Inciarte, who is known for his glove first.

Now if you can tell me Ozzie is going to leadoff, then I might feel a little better. But I still cant get past that one nagging truth: The numbers show that on average, the game’s leadoff hitter will come to the plate +/- 600 times over the course of 162 games, whereas the #4 hitter steps to the plate on average +/- 558 times… or 42 fewer opportunities. Do we really want Ender to have 42 more AB’s than RAJ?

I don’t.

And let’s even break it down to a more simple example. The leadoff hitter is almost always going to get 5 AB’s per game. The cleanup hitter is not nearly as likely to get that luxury. Do you want Ender coming to the plate with the game on the line late in the game? Or at best, do you want the last guy on the bench coming up because Ender is a terrible option in that spot?

I don’t.

Ricky Henderson had plenty of power ending his career with an OPS of .820, including .845 in his heydays with OAK and NYY. I think the fact that he was a lock to make the HOF is proof enough that a guy with power is well suited to leadoff the lineup.

C’mon Snit. Close that venerable old “book” and move RAJ back to the top of the lineup.

Ichiro announced his retirement this morning following the Mariners’ game in Japan vs. the A’s.

His statement:“I have achieved so many of my dreams in baseball, both in my career in Japan and, since 2001, in Major League Baseball. I am honored to end my big league career where it started, with Seattle, and think it is fitting that my last games as a professional were played in my home country of Japan. I want to thank not only the Mariners, but the Yankees and Marlins, for the opportunity to play in MLB, and I want to thank the fans in both the U.S. and Japan for all the support they have always given me.”

If Tomlin indeed earns a spot on the ML roster as a long reliever, somebody loses a roster spot as the 40-man is currently full. Thus any addition to the roster at this point endangers someone. If Tomlin or any other pitcher is added [cough –Kimbrel– cough], Luke Jackson is most likely the odd man out. He’s out of minor league options, so he either makes the team or gets DFA’d/released.

If a position player is added to the bench, he would obviously directly replace Adam Duvall. Easy swap, right? Well, it actually brings up an interesting topic. Duvall has 1 minor league option remaining. Would you consider keeping him at AAA, paying the full freight on his $2.875M arb awarded salary and hoping he remembers how to hit the way he did in CIN? Or do you just cut ties and save the $2M? And if you choose to keep him around, who loses their 40-man roster spot? Something to think about… the Braves currently have 3 catchers slated for AAA, Raffy Lopez, Alex Jackson and Jonathan Morales. Lopez is 31 with ML experience, but is all glove and no bat. AJax showed this spring that he’s still a legit pro prospect with a bit of seasoning still needed. Morales is a career minor leaguer that’s not on the 40-man roster and is more minor league depth than actual prospect. Is Lopez in danger of losing his roster spot? I think he could be. I think AJax proved over the last few weeks that he could be called upon in an emergency and at least hold down a backup spot. All that said, I imagine that if the Braves decide they cannot keep Duvall around for the bench, they’ll just make a clean break and release him.

Just setting here pondering some of the worse trades made by the Braves, after all, not all of the returns for a player like Shelby Miller can be winners. I know some of the obvious ones like the gosh awful trade with Texas for Mark Texeria. The one that I rue most other than Brook Jacoby and Brett Butler to the Indians, one that often flies under the radar was Jermain Dye.

Dye was traded to the Royals along with LHP Jamie Walker for Michael Tucker and Kieth Lockhart. Lockhart was Bobby’s guy at 2nd base. Dye had future All star written all over him, He played for Oakland as well as Kansas City. why do I mention him? Because I fear the Braves will trade away Pache for some 2nd stringer that someone in the front office falls in love with. Just saying…

Alex Anthopoulos on #Braves rotation "we're gonna surprise people the way we break camp,we're taking the best guys, we don't care how much time you have..if you throw strikes & have stuff you'll get the ball"

Or is it rotation specifically? Newk has stunk up Spring Training. Is that a direct shot at Newk? It’s gotta give a shot in the arm to Bryse Wilson, who has really taken a step forward. So had Kyle Wright… until today. We won’t talk too much about today yet. 😐

It was just said on the radio that the Braves failed to turn a double play that would have gotten Wright out of the 1st inning with no runs allowed. Just hearsay at the moment though; not sure how accurate.

Being “outrighted” means he’s now off the 40-man roster. I believe he would have had to go through waivers untouched, but I’m not 100% sure. Hard to believe he wouldn’t have been claimed by someone, being a lefty and all.

Don’t miss that we have a 40-man roster spot available now. That’s the key result here.

Now if you can tell me Ozzie is going to leadoff, then I might feel a little better. But I still cant get past that one nagging truth: The numbers show that on average, the game’s leadoff hitter will come to the plate +/- 600 times over the course of 162 games, whereas the #4 hitter steps to the plate on average +/- 558 times… or 42 fewer opportunities. Do we really want Ender to have 42 more AB’s than RAJ?

V, this is the minutia (wait, is that how the word is spelled? or is it a different word than I meant?I should know better than use $3 words) that makes baseball so interesting…of course, if JD batted cleanup, well, that would be the best thing, right? A rightie after FF?? but, he thinks he’s still in the AL, he won’t have a lot of RBI opportunities 2nd. I know, RBI’s don’t matter, but what does the average pitcher “hit”? .138? (pulled that out of my…hat, can’t find the average….average of pitchers) lets say that’s true, basically 9 times out of 10 they make an out. So, Josh could hit 30 HR’s and drive in…60, 70 RBI’s. Is that the best use of his power bat???
Would it be the best use of Acuna if he hits 30,40 HR’s?
I think Acuna protecting FF is a huge deal. Ender could be the weak link at the top of the order, but…if he hits well, early…that would be an amazing 1 to 4, perhaps 1 to 5 if Nick is forever coming up with runners on….

Maybe, of you are going by “the book”. But the new baseball protocol actually has the best hitter in the lineup batting #2. Mike Trout bats #2. Nolen Arenado bats #2. Aaron Judge bats #2. The logic is similar to what I mentioned above. He’ll get the most AB’s aside from the leadoff guy, yet he’ll still possibly have someone on base when he launches his prodigious dingers. It’s the best of both worlds.

Anyway, for this year, with a nod to his great career, I’ll give JD #2. Next year? Next year RAJ will bat #2, with Freddie in his comfy spot at #3 and Austin Riley as the natural cleanup hitter. But for this year, I’ll give the nod to the respected vet.

I think Acuna protecting FF is a huge deal.

I can buy that. But it does bring up an interesting if premature question: Who is the better hitter? Freddie or RAJ? And if you have RAJ at cleanup, who protects him? Nick? Yuck.

As I mentioned above, the ideal order is #2 RAJ, #3 Freddie, #4 Riles. And hopefully, prayerfully, Ozzie will put together a full season in 2019 of what he did over the first half of 2018 and cement himself atop that threesome in 2020.

If Ender struggles at the plate, I’d love to see them promote Riles to play LF and get his bat in the lineup. Remember when Chipper was ready for promotion in 1994 with TP entrenched at 3B? They penciled him for LF until he tore up his knee in spring. That put the kibosh on an OF debut.

‘Tis the season. Clubs want the cost certainty and players are wary of the owners’ current attitudes toward veterans and FA, as well as being a little afraid of what might happen with FA under the next CBA. Security and certainty goes a long way with both sides.

Maybe, of you are going by “the book”. But the new baseball protocol actually has the best hitter in the lineup batting #2. Mike Trout bats #2. Nolen Arenado bats #2. Aaron Judge bats #2. The logic is similar to what I mentioned above. He’ll get the most AB’s aside from the leadoff guy, yet he’ll still possibly have someone on base when he launches his prodigious dingers. It’s the best of both worlds.

V, we will just have to agree to disagree on this point. There is a book cuz…it’s worked. best hitters batting 2nd works swell in the AL with 9 hitters, as I mentioned above, pitchers are not hitters 😛
Is JD the best hitter on the team? I really don’t think so. FF and Acuna are better hitters. I am gonna go ancient school at talk B.A.’s. .284, 270, .246. JD’s last 3 B.A’s over the last 3 years. No fair he was injured! True. He walked a lot too. swell. in 2017, he got on base at least 190 times between hits, walks, and HBP (not sure how many times with errors. Hit 33 HR’s. How many runs did he score? 65 total. Subtrack 33 HR’s , 32 times he scored via someone else. Granted, he probably wasn’t always running full speed, but do you really want a slow footed guy batting 2nd? He is a stereotypical cleanup hitter. He should be batting 4th, protecting FF and with Acuna batting 2nd. Left/right/left/right/left. I know, by the book. We had Nick protect FF last year, and it worked swell, well, for 4 months, Nick M was the best hitter on the team. Will he be this year? Kinda doubt it…

and I think some of the “boutique” moves like openers, and best hitters batting 2nd, having EVERY prospect play 3, 4, 5 different positions (Jack of all trades, master of none) etc only work for some teams/players and won’t become the way of the game. Oh sure, like lemmings, “they” will try it,(don’t wanna be thought of old fashioned, we are hip!) and then it will fail for many teams, and they will start saying, ya know….perhaps those old timers weren’t exactly wrong , the way they played the game.

remember how all the “Experts” were trying to say that closers weren’t all that and a bag of chips? And teams started having any old reliever close…and then found out what the silly old folks said about the last 3 outs being the hardest to get, was true?

I am going to laugh myself silly when the Red Sox are 8 games back my June 1st to the Yankees, cuz their bullpen by committee has given up homers game after game in the 9th to the Yankees, Rays, Astros, etc. and their lackadaisical attitude, that they can just get some closer by the deadline will prove to be way too late. At least to win the division.
But, if I know Red Sox fans, they will certainly be forgiving to wasting a season cuz they didn’t want to pay Kimbrel to close

Thank goodness we don’t have a blase viewpoint on the braves toward a closer 😕

I think closers are important, but sometimes they might be more critical in the 8th inning than in the 9th. “The book” would say you can’t use them in the 8th. “The book” might see the lead slip away in the 8th and render the closer unnecessary in the 9th.

I like loading up the top of my order so that my best guys get the most possible AB’s in a game. I just do. Having a classic “leadoff” guy makes sense only in the 1st inning, because chances are that’s the only time he actually leads off. Yes, I know it means he leads off the lineup, but why does he have to be a certain stereotype? Why can’t he just be a guy the pitcher doesn’t want to face? Wouldn’t you want that guy staring down the pitcher to open the game? I would.

I respect “the book”, but it was written in an era when the players were not as overall athletic as you see today. “The book” was written in a day when you wanted a SS that could play like a Hoover, and anything you got from his bat was a bonus. “The book” was written in an era when 2B’s were all about 5’8″ and covered in dirt all the time. “The book” was written when your corner IF’s were stiff as a board but could hit the ball a country mile.

I think managers that manage solely on analytics are trendy, but temporary because they are stupid. Gabe Kapler anyone? He’ll manage a team that is arguably the most talented to about a 3rd place finish this year… bank it.

As for those infamous analytics, I think they are a tool. No more or less useful than any of the other tools including the eye test. But they also shouldn’t be discounted. There is value in knowing a batter’s tendencies. It allows pitchers to pitch away from them. (And it’s the same thing Greg Maddux did for his whole career, we just called it “studying video”.)

I say all that to say this… I am an old dog. I don’t care much for new tricks. But my game that I love has changed, and changed alot. And I can’t ignore those changes or I’ll be left out in the weeds and not understand a thing that’s going on anymore. I’m at least trying to learn a couple of new tricks, but I’m choosy as to what they are.

One of my new tricks is a seemingly new stat that many are using now to gauge hitters. It’s called OPS. You hear it being tossed around all the time. But it’s not really anything new. In fact, it’s as old as On Base Percentage or Slugging Percentage… because it’s both. It’s OBP + SLG. That simple. And it may be the most accurate way to measure a batter’s ability to generate runs since RBI is completely dependent on other guys being on base.

And I suppose I have more respect for Josh Donaldson than most around here. I’ve followed his career, and I don’t think his calf injury has derailed his talent. I believe he is still capable of putting together a (another) MVP type year. His career OPS is .874, and that includes his past 2 injured years. Freddie’s is .875. Pretty cool, huh? RAJ had a blistering .917 last season, which of course is his career line. How about Nick? .782 for his career, but a resurgent .806 last season. (Don’t get me started on the anemic Ender Inciarte.)

How about for comparison, gazillionaire Bryce Harper? Career .900; .889 last season. Here’s an interesting one… JT Realmuto: .768 career; .825 last year.

I like our hitters, and I respect the crap out of Josh Donaldson. Give me his career line of .275/.367/.507 with his career average of 33 HRs out of the 2 hole, and I’ll kiss his feet… or his calf. Well, I’d probably get arrested if I tried either. But you get the idea.

A handful of elite prospects come along at the same time, all competing for a few jobs, pushing each other, but all pulling for each other openly. That's about as good a scenario as you can get as a pitching prospect. https://t.co/fiiGLZcnhN

I think everyone of them knows that even if they don’t play for Atlanta, they will play somewhere. That is just the way it works now. I think they also realize that if they don’t make the big club, it will be die to their own short comings. No one is out to sabotage them. One things folks should bare in mind, young arms cannot pitch 200 innings. That is simple physics. So, get strong and be ready…

Drew Waters: Yep, a little cockiness goes a long way in my book. I wonder what Adam Duvall’s answer to the same question would be?

ok guys, silly question…do we really need a 4th outfielder? Have/can Culberson (sp) and Camargo play there? Have they been getting reps in CF this ST??? Cuz, Camargo needs AB’s and I still don’t see how he will get more than 2 games a week as it stands now. plus he will pinch hit of course….maybe 3 games if Nick sits say, once a week? but, why do we need a 4th outfielder? Unless we just have to have a CF’er backup…but, chances are, it’s going to be a weak hitting guy who was released, cuz…he sucked 😛

IMO, no we don’t. We have guys that can play OF. We even have a young 3B power hitter that is ready to hit ML pitching with no place to play that can give serviceable time in the OF. I feel we just need a good bat that we can count on late in the game when that tying run is on 2B.

Unless we just have to have a CF’er backup

We have one. His name is Ronald Acuña, Jr., and he may be a better CF’er than our current starter there.

Kyle Wright’s poor outing yesterday notwithstanding, I think we’ll see this 4 man rotation (open day) for the first time through, with Gausman joining in the fun the second time around:

Julio
Newk
Kyle Wright
Max Fried

I think Bryse Wilson has earned a spot, and Newk will need to right the ship in his final tuneup this week or face a surprising consequence. I also think Touki has earned a spot. It’s deep and talented, just what you want. But it sure makes it hard to predict who will break camp with the big boys.

It should not be a given that Sean Newcomb makes this team. He has been pretty bad this spring, walking the park over and over. He has minor league options left, and Fried, Wright and Touki all seem ready to make a big step forward. It might be best for Newk to work on his command in AAA where the games don’t affect the big league standings.

Don’t be surprised if Max Fried has the most surprising season of any starter this year. He’s better as a starter, and given the opportunity to prepare that way he may well be the breakout pitcher of the rotation this season. He has been repeatedly compared to Cole Hamels, and the comp is fairly made.

If it were me — and I don't know that #Braves would do this — I would start the season with Newcomb at Triple-A and Toussaint, Fried, Wright and Wilson all in majors, 3 of them in rotation and 1 in bullpen. When Folty is ready, you decide who gets bumped from rotation.

Chris Sale re-ups with the Bosox of 5 more years and $145M. Meanwhile Justin Verlander is on the verge of an extension to stay in HOU. Many extensions this month from some big names. These high profile players, especially the ones on the other side of 30, want no part of the new world of Free Agency.

Now, Craig… lower your expectations back to the real world and get a deal done with ATL. C’mon dude. Do it pronto! We need each other.

Guys, I don’t know why, I just have a feeling the braves aren’t gonna sign Kimbrel (trying some reverse psychology here, lets see if it works?) my feelings are often right, when it’s bad/not so good news…
a gift 🙂 I read something else that I am betting you all did too, that the braves have made not a one offer to him, as of yet….
We do have a ton of arms that could close….not a big fan of that, usually it’s failed starters that are turned into closers, right? Or guys that were closers all the way up, like Kimbrel. I don’t know. you need 7 legit starters, we have what, 12? gonna trade 5 of them away?

“Toussaint also had his worst outing in his latest spring appearance Saturday when he came on in relief against the Mets and was charged with six hits, seven runs (six earned) and one walk while recording just five outs in a 12-2 loss. That was his second bad outing in five this spring and inflated his ERA to 8.62, after Toussaint had given up just six hits and three runs (two earned) in 11 innings in three games since his previous rough outing Feb. 28.

“Just one of them days where he was all out of whack,” said Snitker, who didn’t think a hard-hit ball off Toussaint’s foot early in the appearance had any effect on his pitching.” DOB The Athletic

Length of contract… Give him what he wants, you can always flip him in 3 years if the Braves have a better option.

1 – We cannot afford to lose a draft pick with the penalties now being imposed for the COPPY/HART debacle.
2 – money is a secondary consideration.
3 – Let the season start and see who amongst the young arms survives.
4 – after the draft, we won’t have to forfeit a draft pick.
5 – if the season is going reasonably well, we pick up pitching as needed before the trade deadline.

I really do believe the loss of a draft pick is more important than money at this point.

I really do believe the loss of a draft pick is more important than money at this point.

From what I have read, they aren’t hung up on the draft pick or the money. It’s all about the length of contract. Kimbrel is still hanging tight to 5 years, and the Braves are still desiring a shorter commitment.

4 with 1 optional? Something to break the deadlock. Just how badly does Kimbrel want to come back to the Braves, I wonder. I’m sorta thinking not all that much. Millions are more important. I wonder how many millions are enough? How many mansions are enough? Cars? Jewels? I know. I’m on my soapbox again. Mea culpa. :-p

Ha, I guess I will never know the answer to that question CL. Still making do on my pension. So far so good, however, having blow money might be fun for a change. The Lord is good though, most folks can plainly see I am not starving and I don’t get any annoying calls from bill collectors. I could not always say that by the way… So, I guess Craig feels he is worth it, principal of the thing and all. Must be pretty cool to be able to retire at age 36. Gets boring after awhile though…

Vs. Cubs:
Mon: Sean Newcomb
Tue: OFF DAY
Wed: Julio on 6 days rest
Thurs: Max Fried, if he hasn’t been used as a long reliever in the first 5 games. The plan is to have him in the rotation and use him out of the bullpen in those first 5 games only in an emergency.

Vs. Marlins:
Then the plan is for Kevin Gausman to join the rotation and start the first game vs. the Fish on Fri., April 5. He threw 77 pitches in a minor league start yesterday and will make one more in effort to ramp up to 90 pitches before being activated from the IL for that start, picking up with Wilson after.

According to Bowman, the reasoning behind tossing Wilson and Wright in Philly is that they wanted the RH starters against Phillies righty heavy lineup, and wanted their 2 lefties vs. CHI’s lefty heavy lineup. Makes sense to me.

Folty is making progress in his return, and Bowman noted he might be ready as early as the latter part of the team’s 2nd homestand, April 11-18. The team will make a decision at that point as to which youngster leaves the rotation, and how that pitcher is used afterward.

So the only real question remaining aside from Josh Tomlin/Craig Kimbrel (cant help it) is the last bench spot.

Adam Duvall was optioned to Gwinnett on Saturday, but that doesn’t mean he still can’t be released before Opening Day to save that $2M. After all, there is only one 40-man roster spot remaining, and you can’t give it to both Matt Joyce and Josh Tomlin… and to Kimbrel too. 😉

In all seriousness, Joyce will get a very quick look over these last 2 exhibition games at STP to see if he’s a viable candidate for the last bench spot. And in all honesty, there are still players hitting the open market today and tomorrow, so who knows who else we might find?

Both Tomlin and Joyce are on minor league deals and could open the season in Gwinnett awaiting the opportunity to move up. Both have said they are willing to let the numbers game grind out to clear a path. All things being equal, the Braves could choose to keep Joyce and release Duvall if for no other reason than the $2M savings on Duvall, thus simply swapping that roster spot and leaving the open spot for the last bullpen piece.

One would have to ask if it is more beneficial for Riley to play every day and see live pitching everyday or if he could stay proficient enough with limited at bats and subbing for Donaldson once a week? Tis why bench players are usually vets.

I was also of the mind that Camargo would be the primary back up for third base this season.

One would have to ask if it is more beneficial for Riley to play every day and see live pitching everyday

Possibly, yes. But I think Riles has proven he’s capable of handling ML pitching, and our bench is in need of a RH bopper. He checks that box.

I was also of the mind that Camargo would be the primary back up for third base this season.

Could be, but I think Riles could also play LF in the same type role that Thoppy envisioned for Duvall late last year… when Ender is totally overmatched by a tough lefty. Start RAJ in CF and give Riles the start in LF.

I like Ender Inciarte, but I do not love Ender Inciarte. I do love his glove, but Acuña could well be a better CF’er. He also strikes me a little as a sulker, but that’s just hearsay.

If Ender can start quickly this season and prove he can hit consistently, I’ll eat more crow. (I’m getting used to it anyway.) But I’ll go out on a limb and say he’ll be the weak bat in the starting 8… and that includes Dansby. I hope it doesn’t take Snit long to realize leading off with Ender is a bad call.

I do know that if I am Dansby, I am wearing a “wrist guard” this season. ML Pitchers would likely figure he would be a tad bit gun shy on inside pitches on his hands. Not saying ML pitchers are unethical or anything but well, you know….

It would not hurt for Freddie Freee to up armor a little bit too. Pitchers just can’t seem to help themselves in that regard. Something like a free safety being a head hunter… It is in their nature.

Dansby knows he is not a homerun hitter kind of guy, it is not his role but he does have enough pop in his bat to put one over the fence 15 to 20 time a season and that is just fine with me.

One thing I do hope we see is guys understanding situational hitting. Yes, 3 run homers are sexy but when you only need one run, cut down on that swing and drive it up the middle…. I think that is what got Ozzie out of sorts last year. He saw all the accolades being heaped upon his buddy Acuna and got a little envious. He does not have to be a run producer as much as he needs to be a run scorer.

Minter will throw an inning in a Minor League game today. Both he and Gausman will be placed on the IL retroactive to today, making both eligible to return April 4. Gausman is targeted to debut April 6. Minter's ETA hasn't been set, but he shouldn't be too far behind.

For my money, I’d rather keep Austin Riley in Atlanta, send Joyce to AAA, and send Duvall packing.
V, I honestly think that would be terrible for the kid. Only 22 in a week or so….has a top prospect ever come up to warm the bench, at his age? He just won’t play. Camargo is already being punished in spite of a good season. Without a DH, he will be lucky to get 250 AB’s unless Dansby tanks, Ozzie, or JD get hurt for an extended time. Keeping Austin here will mean less AB’s for both of them….who is our LH’ed bat off the bench anyways?

He’s good… really good. And as a 25-year-old, he’s practically a grizzled veteran now. He’s almost as cool as a certain former Braves pitcher of whom I will not name so as not to be mistaken to be comparing Fried to a HOF’er. But said HOF’er had ice water in his veins and is a LH’er. Similarly, Fried’s demeanor never changes. And when you consider he can drop that big ol’ hammer whenever and wherever he wants, then follow it up with mid-90’s heat, the kid… er, I mean old man is posed for success.

If Dansby keeps playing and hitting like he has, he will cinch the All-star team.

He’s fully healthy and no longer carries the burden of being the face of the team (as a rookie). I believe an All-Star appearance is certainly within reach.

And how about Wes Parsons? He looks legit, folks. He simply throws strikes on the edges without nibbling. He obviously trusts his stuff. A certain Braves LH starter whom I won’t name, but whose initials are Sean Newcomb, could learn alot from Parsons.

When you consider how much of a dogfight the NL East looks to be, and realize that just 1 or 2 games could separate #1 from #4, wouldn’t you want to insure that you don’t let any leads melt away in the late innings?

Jacob deGrom and the Mutts have an agreement on 5 years / $137.5M that includes a full no-trade clause and an opt-out after 2022. (Hat tip to Ken Rosenthal’s sources.)

According to Rosey, deGrom “gets opt-out after ‘22, same as [Chris] Sale, even though he is a year further from free agency. Will earn $107M between now and opt-out, Sale, $105M” because you have to have the distinction of having the highest dollar amount. 🙄

As an aside, I think that’s one of Craig’s biggest problems… he wants a bigger deal than Aroldis Chapman got, which was 5 years / $86M. It would appear from this angle that pride will not let him budge on that desire. HE needs to take his focus off his own pride and take a hard look at the current landscape of deals for players – pitchers especially – over the age of 30. If he really wants to earn more than $87M over the next 5 years, he should sign now for 2 or 3 and dominate. If that happens, he’ll get his.

For sure, I know there are guys sequestered away in some dark windowless room who does nothing but look at hours of video trying to pick up on some hint of what is coming next for every pitcher. Knowing what is coming does not guarantee success for a hitter but it does improve his chances of getting a hit.

Joe is the very definition of “old school” while Frenchy is fresh and energetic. I like both. As for me personally, Joe has gotten a bit slow and trite over the last few years. If I hear him tell me one more time that a hitter is “using his hands to get out in front of the ball”, I think I’ll scream. that’s just me though.

And I really really like RAJ batting #2. (I just wish Ozzie was leading off.) Unless Snit moves RAJ back to leadoff, I imagine RAJ’ll hit 2nd when JDon gives way to Johan. [Say that phonetically… JDon to Johan. Just rolls off the tongue…]

One thing I believe is all relievers wear down as they approach the end of a season. How does signing Kimbrel not make the Braves a deeper and stronger team in 2019? Is it just money? Did Craig run over Alex’s dog? Saving money is great as long as it is being penny wise and pound foolish.

OK… admittedly there is a bit of sentiment over reason here, but also a bit of an eye toward next season when MLB will surely slip the DH into the NL game…

Would it be crazy to consider signing the still unemployed Even Gattis to be the last man on the roster? With Johan and Culby, they pretty much cover all the defensive positions. And it sure would be cool to see El Oso Blanco stride to the plate late in a tight game with RISP. His standing in the batter’s box would also likely tighten up a pitcher’s butt quicker than Johan or Culby. Just a random thought on a late March morning.

Also, if MLB and the MLBPA truly wanted to see all the unsigned veterans gain a ML job, they’d have accelerated the roster expansion to 26 in 2019, not 2020. I see no real advantage to delaying that change one more year… unless of course it’s the grease they’ll use to slide the DH in on us. (Which it almost certainly is.)

Truth is, our own Alex Jackson might be the best DH candidate we have. The guy can rake, and has made progress behind the plate. My money says Tyler Flowers is gone after this season and Mac comes back to work behind William Contreras, as backup and mentor. Having AJax also around adds the ability to allow Mac to DH occasionally as well.

OK.. this is very intriguing to me. Brito is a 26-year-old LH hitting OF with unimpressive numbers in just 82 games of ML experience, but a fairly impressive AAA resume slashing .303/.352/.484 with 28 HRs and 28 steals in 265 AAA games spread over 3 seasons. He also plays all 3 OF positions. If he makes it to ATL in the waiver order, could he be claimed by the bargain hunting Thoppy? Hmmm…

Matt Wisler, Preston Tucker, Adam Duvall… all released or on the verge of release. Only 1 remaining minor league option saved Lucas Sims (and maybe Duvall, but unlikely) from the same outcome. Is there such a thing as a lose/lose trade?

#Braves might not announce Opening Day roster until Wednesday or even Thursday, only because they continue looking for better bench bat and bullpen help. Otherwise, there are no real questions about remaining roster spots if they don't make additions.

So far they've not been willing to go three years guaranteed, which is why I'm told he's waiting for. Not my money, but if I'm #Braves I do that, especially given their pitching injuries. Not like they're blocking a young closer who's knocking at the MLB door in next year or two. https://t.co/E4EIl0a1JE

Wow…”they” can say whatever they want (AA is from up north right? Likely a lib, right) money may very well be tight, but…if you say that…fans don’t like it. fans will still be P.O.ed that players aren’t signed up, but…they can always say they couldn’t work things out, vs we can’t pay for anyone, liberty is cheap

I just think it is more than a little frustrating to have the Braves say, we can shop any aisle and turn around and cry poor mouth. How much is really too much for a shut down closer? Having more guys who can close games is an asset, not a liability.

Okay, something different. A couple of Brave alum to get their chance in the Show, Rio Ruiz to be the starting 3rd baseman for the Orioles and Dustin Peterson going north with Detroit. Good for them.

The Braves have until some time today (cannot find the exact time anywhere) to set their Opening Day active 25-man roster. Snit told one of the many beat writers yesterday (cannot find the exact quote or the exact reporter this morning, but remember reading it) that they would wait until the last minute to make the Opening Day roster official as they could still add a reliever or a bench bat.

As for the reliever part, I cannot help but think that he’s referring to Kimbrel. There are not enough quality relievers to go around the league as it is, so it’s unlikely an impact arm will be released back onto the open market at this point. Maybe I’m just reading my own optimism into his statement, but I cannot help but think he’s lobbying Thoppy as hard as we are. Nobody knows better than Snit what an arm like Kimbrel’s would do for our ‘pen.

Who is on the chopping block (pun fully intended) if Kimbrel were to be added? Luke Jackson is out of options, but Wes Parsons is not. That might not make a difference, though, as Kimbrel would also need a 40-man spot. Thus Jackson could be released to make room. That’s a tough call. Another guy on the 40-man that could be in danger is Grant Dayton. Who? Exactly…

As for the bench bat, I heard Matt Joyce in an interview yesterday say that was told he would be on the flight to Philly, but that a late addition was still possible. He said he understood the possibilities and was hopeful to stick around here. At this point, it’s fairly obvious he’s the guy over the other in-house options, though.

And of course there is still some 40-man roster adjustments to be made since adding Josh Tomlin and Matt Joyce requires 2 spots and the roster sits at 39. Unless another addition creates a different need, I expect Joyce to take Duvall’s 40-man spot also, and for the Braves to pocket the $2M savings by releasing the under-performing Duvall prior to Opening Day.

The Padres claimed Socrates Brito off waivers from the D’backs. What makes this interesting is that the Pads already have a crowded OF. I suspect there is another show to drop.

At any rate, he was claimed before ATL had a shot at him making the chances of Matt Joyce being officially added a bit stronger.

Here’s what bothers me here… I don’t like that we are clamoring around the junk heap looking for a 4th bench member. With a short bench, each person needs to be high quality. I love Mac, Johan and Culby, but 3 guys can’t do 4 jobs. I realize that’s what we have, but I don’t like it alot.

I also don’t like that our best closer candidate is hurt and the next guy was hurt. I fear this will come home to roost. Perhaps I am looking at this from a slanted point of view, but the need and fit for Craig Kimbrel is sooooo clear and obvious.

I’m telling you, if we lose games early because the bullpen blew up, the wailing and gnashing of teeth will be of historic proportions. And deservedly so. Even Stevie Wonder can see this team’s Achilles’ heel. I just hate to see it exploited because we weren’t willing to go 3 years to bring back home the best closer of this generation.

Cameron Maybin had a miserable spring both off and on the field for the GIants, being arrested for DUI early in March and being released from the team for sucking late in March after he hit just .163 in 43 ABs.

Lane Adams will start the 2019 season with the Phillies’ AAA affiliate after signing a minor league deal back in January. He is not on their 40-man roster and does not have a clear path to their ML team. He had a decent spring slashing .289/.341/.395 in 38 AB’s, but he did strike out an alarmingly high 14 times.

I just heard a radio interview with Thoppy. He was asked directly about a “free agent closer”, to which he answered, of course, that he cannot comment specifically about any free agent players, but that under the interviewer’s criteria he continues to “monitor the market”, hinting that the 2 sides are still in contact and hinting further that both sides could still move toward an agreement. He was called out by the interviewer on an “intriguing tone” to his comment, to which Thoppy answered with, “I don’t want to create any unfounded expectations,” and then followed with, “I do not anticipate any signings over the next few days.”

To this listener it almost sounded like Thoppy feared he said too much and tried to walk it back quickly. But I easily could have misread that.

Well, today is the day we have all been waiting for in Braves Country… Aside from not having signed Craig Kimbrel to a contract but I digress. Even the weather appears to be cooperating. I am about 200 miles south of Philly but eons away from their weather patterns because bad weather out of the mid west hit the mountains and slides northeast but even that should not be a problem this afternoon.

So, again, who has the over/under on Bryce taking Julio deep this afternoon in 10 pitches?

The Atlanta Braves released on social media a graphic of their official Opening Day 25-man roster, but I still have not seen any announcement made of any corresponding move with the 40-man to accommodate both Matt Joyce and Josh Tomlin.

And it is now official, Joyce and Tomlin have been added. C Raffy Lopez was DFA’d to make room. I think the strong spring of Alex Jackson made that move possible as he will be the primary catcher at AAA with Jonathan Morales (2015 draftee, 15th round) also on the AAA roster. I believe it shows the confidence the organization has regained in AJax.

As for Lopez, there is a strong chance he’ll go unclaimed through waivers and be outrighted to AAA. Even though he’s already 31 years old, he still has a minor league option remaining, so he can be outrighted without the option of free agency.

I think BMac is really going to help the pitching staff….well, at least the guys in the rotation….
Julio made Harper look bad…but, with his stuff (and that slider really was good today) , it’s going to be tough for him to beat the Phils at home…
Matt Joyce looks like a good signing….
the bullpen…Kimbrel wouldn’t help right now…Mercy….

I don’t want to tip my hat today. I was pissed after yesterday, and I’m still a little pissed today. I didn’t want Ender leading off, and he proved why yesterday. I didn’t want Luke Jackson in a professional bullpen, and he showed why yesterday. Each is easily solvable, but neither will be addressed quickly because no one wants to be accused of overreacting. But when is an appropriate time period before reacting is no longer overreacting? Do we have to wait a series? Two series? Two weeks?

There is only one reason to compete, and that’s to win. I’ll never be satisfied with a loss, especially if we don’t learn something from it. Jake Arrieta is a RH’er, so don’t expect to see a change at the top of the lineup tomorrow.

And is there anyone on the planet that thinks Craig Kimbrel saw the result of yesterday’s game and thought, “I’ll soften my contract demands now”? @#$%^&, he just might add another year on the back end now.

Did we get beaten by a better team yesterday? I think the answer to that is a clear “Yes” as long as we continue with a flawed lineup and flawed bullpen.

Freddie gave us a nice little sound bite saying, “You can’t go 162-0”. Thanks Fred. That’s true. You can’t. But you don’t have to give any of them away… especially to your division rival. And as long as Ender Inciarte bats at the top of the lineup, and as long as Luke Jackson stays in our bullpen, we’ll give away games.

By the way, I called both of the Phillies homeruns yesterday. It was just so evident neither Carle nor Jackson had anything he could throw for a strike but one pitch. You can not give a professional hitters like the Phillies employ that much latitude.

Would the bullpen be better if Minter and O’Day were healthy? Of course it would. But you cannot guarantee the health of any pitcher. That’s why you must have depth. And that’s what Thoppy failed to build over the offseason, is bullpen depth. The prevailing thought was that he’d open with some of the young exceptional arms in the bullpen. Well, he didn’t. He gave us Shane Carle, Josh Tomlin and Luke Jackson… none of whom are young or exceptional.

Part of that was due to starters being hurt as well. With Folty and Gausman being out, some of those young exceptional arms penciled in for the bullpen are still starting… Bryse Wilson in Atlanta and Touki in Gwinnett.

Yeah, yeah… you can’t predict injuries. But you can prepare for them as they are inevitable. You combat them with depth. We didn’t do that. Craig Kimbrel would have been a nice beginning point.

I can live with the lateral move in RF as I believe in this offense… well, the participants at least, even if they are out of order. But that’s a separate rant.

We should have addressed the bullpen. Everyone knew it. Everyone still knows it. And every other ML team will exploit it.

We can start fixing it today. We can acquire the one remaining available option… who now holds all the negotiating leverage. Our need is now more glaring than ever.

BTW- Carle has 2 minor league options remaining. Jackson has 0. But no team would claim him on waivers (and if they do, who cares?), so he can be outrighted in a few days. No harm no foul. We need his 40-man roster spot for Kimbrel anyway. Right?

My bullpen on March 30 would be:
Viz, Sobotka, Venters, Biddle, Parsons, Tomlin, Dan Winkler, and Touki. Fried would be there until he’s needed in the rotation.

Carle would be in AAA and Jackson would be in DFA limbo. Kimbrel would be signed ASAP and sent to extended spring training to ramp up his workouts.

When Kimbrel is ready, Tomlin would be demoted. When O’Day and Minter are healthy, Winkler and Parsons would go back to AAA, in that order.

Then my bullpen in 2 weeks would be:
Kimbrel, Minter, Viz, O’Day, Sobotka, Venters, Biddle, and Touki. That looks like a real professional bullpen.

And when my starters are healthy, I decide between Newk, Touki, Wilson and Fried as to whom keeps the 5th starter spot, who goes to the bullpen, and who goes back to AAA. Those would be hard choices to make, but the kind of choices that are required when you have depth.

And when you don’t have depth, you have no choices. You have Shane Carle and Luke Jackson.

funny, Gil’s “still so many questions” lead title seems more prescient (blog first? did I spell it right?) than ever….
My tip your cap post was dripping with sarcasm at first, then I decided, well it is just one game…but, we looked like a team that wasn’t going to have much luck against the Phils this year, as constructed…
as for Ender…I think the issue is he always starts slow…and that IS an issue. Last year, thru 91 games, he was hitting .242. After the all star break, .302. Well, 2017 he had a slow April, .230…but, .330 in May, and hit .302 for the year. and of course 2016 was the really dramatic year. .227 first half, .341 2nd half!
So, where do you bat a really good CF’er (likely better overall than Acuna, at least at this point) with little power, and while not speedy, can steal 25+ bases? How about Dansby? Or Ozzie leading off? well, that might make sense, at least to start off the season, right? til the bat gets going? But, what do we know about managers, especially braves managers? Patience….sometimes to a fault. Ender should bat 8th for April, and put Dansby at the top of the order to get him as many AB’s as possible to become the hitter we all think he can be.

so…I found out I have sleep apnea…and not the garden variety, but severe sleep apnea. the number is 40…but, still waiting on the equipment. I think not waking up 40 times an hour is gonna help me think better…like above..
I forgot to mention 2 things….one, Ender’s last strike out…man, that pitch was really inside, tough to get a bat on it, and hard to call a strike. Phils new catcher is going to get a few borderline calls his teams way, no doubt…

also, I really do think AA was slooooow to make moves in Toronto, in spite of having the Yankees and Red Sox being good/great every year….I don’t know that he truly realizes how good the Phils, Nats and Mutts are this year….who knows, perhaps GM’s think, well, if not this year, we’ll be “competitive” for several years to come, and we will add someone in the offseason, or add someone come trade deadline this year, if we are not too far behind….sounds horrible, I know….a different way of thinking from us fans….but, like you all have mentioned before, it’s a different era now…players are a bit scared of the future/or really do want to stay with the team they came up with…it may be a bit different with closers, but you have to have both a really good closer, on a really bad team, and said bad team wanting to trade their closer….

honestly, I can’t believe the Brewers didn’t sign Kimbrel….a blown save or two by either the braves or Brewers, and yeah, Kimbrel can as for more years…

Shane has a couple of options left. Send his butt down until he can learn to throw strikes. Luke… well, he’s wearing jersey number 77. That ought to tell you something already. He’s supposed to be a pitcher, not a tackle.

It’s nothing personal. I’m just funny about wanting my major league pitchers to throw strikes. Shocker.

And I find myself already being characterized as overreacting after just 1 game.

Baloney.

Is waiting until next week going to change the fact that our bullpen is insufficient and that Ender Inciarte can’t hit his weight before the ASB? Not it isn’t. My reaction is not an overreaction. It’s open recognition of something we all saw coming… at least those who were paying attention saw it coming.

I agree with The Ringer’s Michael Baumann, who says of the modern bullpen, “It’s not enough to just have one or even two relief aces whose primary purpose is to protect a lead late in the game; key bullpen roles and assignments are becoming more fluid and numerous, requiring as many as half a dozen hard-throwing relievers to fill them. Stacking high-quality relievers isn’t about shortening the game anymore. It is the game.”

No longer do you have a closer, a setup man, and a handful of middle relievers. In the modern bullpen, you better have at least 3 lock-down late inning relievers, plus at least one more guy that is capable of doing it for more than one inning. With today’s pitchers averaging about 6 innings a start, the demand on the bullpen is more focused than ever before. And with teams’ abilities to gather information quickly on tendencies, it’s no longer possible to sneak an ineffective reliever through an inning against a good team.

Need proof? All 4 teams that made it to each League Championship Series last season had top-5 bullpens in their respective leagues. Duh. It ain’t rocket surgery.

Simply stated, the Braves may technically have a 9 man bullpen at the moment (with 5th starter Max Fried taking up an inning last night), but only about 4 of them (including Fried) are fairly reliable, and one of those 4 is coming off a shoulder injury that knocked him out of most of 2018. Once you get past Viz, Fried, rookie Wes Parsons, and rookie Chad Sobotka, you have a handful of question marks. I almost counted Jonny Venters as being in the reliable camp, but that elbow is held together with duct tape and chewing gum. Whatever we get out of him, be it for 1 or 2 batters at a time, is a bonus. But it also magnifies the need for the rest to pick up the slack.

Touki and Thomas Burrows are immediate answers. Dan Winkler can’t be any worse than Luke Jackson. What about Grant Dayton? Jacob Webb? At least these guys have good arms even if not alot of experience. Can they throw strikes? Can they not walk the park? I don’t care anymore about experience. We blew our offseason opportunity to add experience. At this point I’ll take talent over experience. We saw yesterday what Carle’s and LuJack’s experience got us. It got us slobberknocked.

For some reason, I don’t really check out Mark Bowman…can’t give you an answer why, just don’t. Anyways, I came across a link to the Angels beat writer (Justin Upton has turf toe, but will be out up to 3 months) and noticed the guy only had 19K followers…so, went to Mark’s page and saw 76 K, then clicked on a link to his MLB stories…thought he made some good points on the bullpen, Julio, and Acuna batting 4th…https://www.mlb.com/news/inbox-could-braves-add-more-bullpen-depth

Gil
Do you think the assembled at Braves and Stuff would like minor’s reports occasionaly like I used to provide over on the DOB blog? Late seventies is not early sixties. So I can’t get after it like I did fifteen years ago, but i still have my moments.

I split time this afternoon between NASCAR and the Mets vs Nats game. I will spare the details on the Xfinity race other that Kyle Bush won. The ball game was interesting. A couple of observations, 1) Soto and Robles are special ball players. 2) The Nats have the same problem as the Braves, their bullpen sucks… Final score Mutts 11 Nits 4.

yeah….even the Marlins(glad to see something like 5K in the stands for their 2nd game) are ahead of Nats and Bravos…though I think that’s only going to be for a few days…
I don’t know….doesn’t help to be without Folty….but the way the Phils are hitting, I think even he would have been down 3 runs after 5, 6 innings…we need to get out of Philly but quick…hopefully we will get a win today….

I needn’t remind that we rode the PHILLIES train to last season’s division championship.
0-2 is not a good look, and the arms are letting us down. Not particularly surprising. I;m sure the management has decided this is the season to winnow the grain from the chaff. AA and the front office should be careful however lest the winnow-basket comes up empty after all the sifting is through.

Braves and Stuff turns it’s lonely eyes to bullpen prospects in Lawrenceville.
I believe three have potential to help the BRAVES this season, CLOUSE in particular, and in his case, soon.

Position:
C ALEX JACKSON
OF ADAM DUVALL
Not on the 40-man;
3B AUSTIN RILEY
SS PEDRO FLORIMAN
We all hope for a blockbuster April from RILEY, and a call-up if DONALDSON continues his tepid start.
The biggest surprise for me is YNOA at this point.
Some more positioning of players may be in the offing as two pitchers were added since March 29.

MISSISSIPPI

There are no members of the 40-man on the PEARL RIVER roster.
PACHE starts his season in AA?
I would not count on him being in PEARL very long unless his bat busts out, and he has a flat tire.
Two starting pitchers of note, and a slew of relief.
Notable players on the roster at present.

Without PACHE, I see a weak offensive team in PEARL RIVER at this point, but FLORIDA has some excellent position prospects to fill in as the season gets going.
SALAZAR is a solid singles hitter, and may be destined for ATLANTA’s bench.
Catching MORALES [.268] BA, MARITNEZ [.248 BA] in AA last year. Little power.

So, the same problem that Braves pitching exhibited last season (walks) has not appeared to have corrected itself. Maybe their is only so much a pitching coach can do says former pitching coach Chuck Hernandez. If only the Braves had known of this problem last season, they might have been able to fix it during the winter…

Man, did that series ever leave a bad taste in my mouth! And I bet y’alls too…
Jon Heyman is looking to be exactly right, sad to say. There was a playoff atmosphere in Philly, and I really hope the braves were just caught off-guard a bit by it. (but don’t the braves look smart for saving ALL that money by not getting Harper?)
where to start? braves didn’t look particularly impressive , well…anywhere.
JD is getting on my nerves now…23 million and he tells the club where he feels comfortable batting? He’s NOT and 2 hole hitter! I think I forgot briefly in a post above about Dansby eventually batting 2nd…Nope…we need a lumbering 33 YO 3rd baseman batting there.
Gee, for 7 mil more, we could have had Charlie Morton for 2 years, but nope…we HAD to get JD cuz…we needed more power, and we weren’t going to sign or trade for a power hitting right fielder…and he deserves 23 mil, even though , well…ok, have to expect him to get off to a slow start, new league and all…he’s not why we are 0-3, that’s because of the weak bullpen, the injured/very young rotation, and…because the Phils are MUCH improved.
McCutch is going to LOVE playing 81 games in a tiny park….
I really wish J.T. Realmuto had been in the A.L. or NL west…someplace we wouldn’t have traded 2 guys that would have hurt us 18 games a year, cuz…yes, he’s the real deal..all that and a bag of chips….Ozzie had a great jump, a sure steal , it would take a perfect throw to get him..oh, a perfect throw…drat….
and Bryce Harper…gee, I think he is going to pay off in spades for the Phils, don’t you too?
but, think about ALL the money the braves saved getting Nick M for so little….huge crowds all year long because of Nick and McCann, and JD!!!
I know, only 3 games (hard to be 3 games out of 1st after 3 games, eh?) but we truly didn’t look like a team that could compete let alone win against the March Phillies….and of course you add the never ending promotion of the phils by the terrible espn crew…of course, why wouldn’t they? they were the team with all the exciting moves, getting a guy that loves the limelight….doesn’t mean they will win the W.S. or even the division, but…they are an exciting team….I hope the braves seem exciting once we see 3 games here…..

V, I don’t know what I expected…but I do know if I heard you and Gil ranting about a series I missed…I just didn’t feel the same level of angst …not seeing = not feeling the same desperation….I really hope the cold, the huge crowds, the uber youth of much of the pitching staff….and of course the injuries, were more of the issue, than a pure talent on the field situation…
I believe there were 20 walks in 3 games by the braves pitching staff…you just knew yesterday that the phils were missing opportunities , it wasn’t as close as the 5-1 score indicated….
I would love to eat some crow after tonight’s game…what sucky team do we play tonight? Cubs…oh….

and since I am in such a foul mood about baseball….what group of angry drunks made the braves schedule anyways???? We play the Cubs, Colorado, Cleveland, AZ, and SD all in April….those would be fun teams to play during the dog days of summer…
and 2nd half? in late August, we play 2 games in Toronto, then 4 here against SOX, 2 more against Toronto, then save 5 games against KC and San Fran, about 20 games against the NL East to round out Sept (and even though we opened on the road, last 5 games are on the road as well) guess it could be good news for the braves trying to catch up against the teams ahead of us, or for any team trying to catch the braves…..gonna get sick of seeing NL east teams though…

guys, guys, guys…see? I told ya you were worrying too much! Just a slow start, now they are cooking with gas….you folks just need to……relax…not get caught up in the day to day grind, so to speak…it’s a 162 game season after all…

Boy, talk about your bi-polar ball club. What in the world has happened to the Cubs. They are playing like the Cubs of old and I don’t mean that in a good way. Wowser…

So, why did the Cubs start swinging at the same stuff they were drawing walks on early in the game? Sean sure was have a time throwing strikes and it was frustrating for me to watch but the baseball gods shined upon the Braves last night, scoring runs while shutting out the other side….

For sure, looked like a totally different team last night, even the errors turned into gold with a 6-5-3 put out when a ground ball didn’t stick in Dansby’s glove.

I am reminded of an old NASCAR car builder and team owner Junnie Donleavy who operated on a shoestring his entire time in the sport (#90 team). He got a huge boost with sponsership from Heliege Myers who said if he could do so well without sponsorship, think how well he could do with money behind him. It did not work, Junnie was so use to pinching pennies, he could not make the transtion and still sucked.

The moral, there is a reason some CEOs specialize in taking over bankrupt stores.

I am saddened on the reports of Bobby’s possible stroke. I will refrain from making a lot of comments until we know more but praying for you Bobby C.

Have fun Gordon, bring us luck.

Well, at least the Braves are not the only team the Phillies are making look bad this season. I guess Bruce wasn’t so enamored with D.C. after all. I mean, how could he not love beautiful downtown Philly?

Watched the Mets hang on against the Marlins last night. It was a wild 9th inning, the Fish crushed the ball but it was right at the Mets gloves. Zero swing and misses. The Marlins are better than we might all being led to believe. They are playing like a school of hungry piranha.

Pretty big deal for the Braves to lock up Acuna, A good move for him too. $17MM in the hands is better than $34MM in the bush. Now, he needs to be smart and get his family out of Venezuela.

Bobby Cox remains hospitalized after suffering a stroke Tuesday & having surgery. He’s been seeing visitors. GM Alex Anthopoulos said on MLB Network that he saw Bobby today & he was “in as good a spirits as can be.” He’s as tough as they come. So many folks pulling for you, Bobby

Well, that certainly was an entertaining game last night. Anyone else worried about Jonny V? It was nice to see Camargo come thru in the eight with the bases clearing double. I was even more surprised that he replaced Josh Donaldson at third for defense in the ninth. verrrry interrresting….

Failing to score after having your lead off man on third with no one out is concerning. Oppo home runs by both Dansby and Ozzie was nice however. I thought the hope plate umpire was quite creative with his strike zone last night. Hey, I don’t mind if you have a wide or narrow strike zone, just call it the same for both teams.

The R-Braves crush the INTIMIDATORS 9-1 on 14 hits.
KINGHAM gets his first win in his first start after promo from rookie ball.
HOEKSTRA is successful in his first attempt on the bump after conversion from a position player.

So, Nick the Stick put on an awesome display with the bat last night going 5-5 with 3 doubles and a pair of singles. Max Fried looked truly outstanding too. I know it is early but the Cubs look really sad right now. And inept. I did think Madden pulled Yu Darvish too soon last night but it is not my call to make.

Nick did what Nick does… and sadly it doesn’t garner alot of praise or attention, but it does push runs across the plate. We all manage to characterize Nick as a less-than-attractive “backup plan”, but he just continues to do what he’s always done, and that’s to put in “professional’ at-bats and to papercut a pitcher to death.

So while Thoppy said he had the ability to shop in any aisle, but picked Nick off the Clearance rack, it doesn’t mean he didn’t still get a good product.

As good a performance from any Braves pitcher thus far in 2019… and really as good as we’ve seen in recent history. The dude was perfect through 5 2/3 on a night when the ball was wet, the mound was slippery, and the down time between innings was inconsistent due to the grounds crew (who deserve a ton of props too).

So now what? Kevin Gausman is due to come off the IL today to make his first 2019 start tonight. Bryse Wilson went down to make room for Minter yesterday, so that rotation spot is already open. Folty looked sharp in his 5 innings last night during his rehab start at Gwinnett, throwing 56 pitches (34 strikes), giving up 8 hits, walking 2 and whiffing 2. He’ll likely get one more rehab start to increase his pitch count into the 70-80’s then be ready to return to the ATL rotation in about 10 days. This is all predicated, of course, on his not experiencing any unusual pain or other setbacks.

So who loses their rotation spot upon Folty’s return?

Julio isn’t going anywhere. Gausy isn’t either as long as he’s healthy. A healthy Folty is the defacto ace. That leaves 2 spots for Sean Newcomb, Kyle Wright, and Max Fried.

I posit that Max Fried is the most ready of those 3 at this point. Newk has more ML experience, but not better control. Wright probably has the highest ceiling of the 3, but not the maturity yet.

IMO, Fried showed last night why he belongs in the rotation for good. He has great control, locates his fastball for strikes, and keeps hitters completely off balance with that big ol’ hammer curve. And he may be the most efficient pitcher on the roster.

It’s a good problem to have, but I believe Fried has earned a spot in the rotation. And I believe Brian McCann agrees with me: “He’s ready for this. He’s got great stuff and he’s got great poise. I thought tonight, he threw the ball as well as you can possibly throw it.”

What else did Mac have to say? “I told him he looks like a young Cole Hamels. He’s got the same build and the same sort of look. The stuff is off the charts.”

We’ve heard that comparison before, but now the performance is matching the projection.

First, we need to identify the guys that have minor league options remaining, as those guys can simply be sent down and stashed for future need.

AJ Minter is just back from the IL and sorely needed. Chad Sobotka stunk up the joint last night, but you can’t demote a guy on a knee jerk reaction. Shane Carle has had trouble throwing strikes, walking 5 and plunking 1 in his 2.2 IP. Wes Parsons has been the best of this crop thus far.

Then there are the vets. Jonny Venters hasn’t been great, but he’s not likely to just be released. Jesse Biddle has been fairly solid, and has not given up any free passes. Luke Jackson is about as “meh” as meh gets. Josh Tomlin has been in 1 game, last Saturday, threw 16 pitches, and gave up 2 hits, 1 run, and got 1 out before being lifted. Then there’s Viz. Snit won’t use Viz on back-to-back nights because of his shoulder, although they keep saying he’s healthy. Is he healthy? He’s only made 2 appearances thus far, and Snit is still steering clear of him?

This is a tough one to me. If Viz is truly only available every other night, then the Braves cannot afford to hang onto any other dead weight. But I think I think it also means the team should keep as many options available as possible, so that might be the overriding criteria.

Weighing all that, sending Carle to AAA seems the best move to me, even above sending LuJack packing. Maybe Carle can get some meaningful work on his command in consistent appearances. We’ll see if Thoppy agrees with me later today.

Oh… and is anyone was wondering is José Urinal, er… I mean Ureña would be making a start against the Braves in this series, he is not. Is that even a big deal anymore? Has everyone already forgotten his cowardice when he drilled RAJ last year?

I think it likely came down to Carle’s inability to throw strikes. 5 walks and a hit batsman in less than 3 innings is tough to justify. He needs some work in games that won’t hurt the NL East standings.

As good a performance from any Braves pitcher thus far in 2019… and really as good as we’ve seen in recent history.
Agree…..and did you see him come out of the bullpen the other night? the 31st against the phils? 2 outs, 2 walks…
I am soooo glad they did let him start after that….he looked very Meh….that’s why I wish most of the young starters would be allowed to start, even if it’s something goofy like I mentioned before, 4 innings, then a “new” starter with a clean inning like they are truly starting a game….
remember, Folty was a lousy reliever….

So, hot shot down the 3rd base line resulting in a twin killing and Gausman turned into a new pitcher. Impressive… 7 innings of shut out ball. the only scary part was watching Viz struggle to find the strike zone with his fastball.

Their may be hope for this team after all but I still would feel better if Kimbrel was signed.

V, for real! Was having dinner with a friend, and really couldn’t figure how BMac did that sliding, that’s a first. A real shame, he was looking to be the main catcher…then TFlow getting hit on the hand, lordy!!!

According to Mac, it tightened on the earlier run to 2b, then grabbed on the hunt over to 3b. Fortunately, it looks like Flow will not have to be on the shelf long…

Flowers says the latest X-ray results also showed no fracture. He is hopeful to be available within the next couple days. Culberson said he doesn’t think he’s been used as a catcher since he was 10-years-old

Good morning folks, well, one got away yesterday that should have been a win but that’s baseball. The Braves can try to hide it all they want but they are very thin in late inning relief. Of course, so is everyone else.

But, be that as it may, I came down with something and slept through most of it. I was only awake for the bad stuff….

Yes, Flo really toughed it out last night, it would be the IL if not for Mac beating him to it. I’ll bet Alex was on the phone to the Stripers who were in Norfolk before the games was over getting Alex on a plane to Atlanta. At least it is a regular flight.

Its should be noted that they team is having a second round of x-rays done on Flow’s wrist. We still haven’t dodged this bullet yet.

Also, remember when Mac got his first callup? He came up when starter Johhny Estrada was mowed by Darin Erstad at the plate. Mac came directly from low-A Rome and was not considered a top prospect. But he never went back down. Who knows what we really have in AJax? We’re about to find out.

Sean looked much better today. Not spectacular but better. They are the Marlins so there is that. I just don’t have any confidence in the late innings stuff. Like the Nationals but not so ugly. Speaking of whom, they are really struggling too.

well, if the braves keep winning, then the pressures not on the braves….at least at this point….teams can really be…stupid….the brewers brought out newly minted closer Josh Hader out for a 2 and 2/3rd inning save in early April. Oh sure, they want to kill off the Cubs chances, but, they are already down a closer, do they want to be down 2? Shocked they didn’t sign Kimbrel, just like I am shocked the Braves haven’t, if it’s only 3 years he wants. Some team will make a deal, then what? I think a lot of teams that have gotten off to fast starts, think they are just fine now, can make a move in July. well…what if no one is available this year? I mean, crazy as that sounds, so many teams may be within a stone’s throw, that they are not going to have their team tank to make another team better….

And Gil, about the Nats….just read that Trevor Rosenthal has not gotten a single out against 9 hitters!!!! Guessing he’s come back too soon from TJ….

about the Nats….just read that Trevor Rosenthal has not gotten a single out against 9 hitters!!!!

I am very afraid those two facts will add up to a bad sum for the Braves. I really wish that Thoppy and Terry McGuirk would call Greg Maffei or John Malone and convince them that Craig Kimbrel would be a positive asset for Liberty Media. Right now the only reliever we have that can throw strikes is Wes Parsons.

Yes, it appears the Braves have Wes Parsons and little else in the pen. Sobotka has lost the release point on his fast ball. Biddle is mixing his pitches but too many are getting hit. Viz…. well, y’ll can see for yourselves and A.J. Minter missed a lot of spring training and thus his accuracy.

Of course the Nats are faring little better. The managed to turn a 12-2 laughter into a 12-9 squeaker. Rosenthal still has not recorded and out but he has adopted “To Infinity & Beyond” as his new mantra…

While the Bringer of Rain is acting more like the bringer of clouds, he defense has been stellar. However, I get the feeling that Alex remembers the guys he had in Toronto a bit misguidedly. Sometimes a GM gets so focused on the future, he forgets the present. I can see why he would be loath to cede a draft pick but a draft pick is just a prospect.

I hate to sound like a blind optimist, but he is hitting the ball very hard… just right at people. I think I’d rather see that than him pump up his numbers with bloops and dribblers. Eventually those balls he’s barreling will find the right spots.

I missed last night’s game, but kept up a little on Twitter and have looked at the box score this morning. (Old fashioned I know, but that’s the first place I go when I don’t get to see it with my own eyes.)

I see there were ZERO walks from the bullpen… that’s a huge victory itself. I also observe that Luke Jackson continues to roll after his opening day stinker. It would appear that Chad Sobotka redeemed himself with a tough performance as well. Minter got the save?

I did see the highlight of RAJ’s prodigious blast. That dude generates some serious bat speed. In Denver, that moon shot might have been a bringer of snow.

Folty makes his next rehab start tonight, and if all goes well, he’s lined up to make his season debut Sunday night at home vs. the Mets and Jacob deGrom on national TV (EPSN).

Max Fried makes his next start tonight, and Kyle Wright makes his next start Thursday. IMO, each are auditioning to remain in ATL. Looking at my crystal ball, I’m seeing Fried sticking around and Wright being demoted to AAA to remain on a regular schedule and provide starting depth.

The bigger question will come when Mike Soroka is ready to make his 2019 debut. At that point, some real hard decisions will have to be made. Who does he replace? It won’t be Folty, Julio or Gausy. (Are we sure Julio is a lock?) And if Sean Newcomb pitches again like he did after the 2nd inning yesterday, it won’t be him. And all Fried did in his last start was be perfect against the Cubs for 5.2 innings. For him, there is much to be gained or lost in tonight’s start beyond a spot in the standings.

Hard decisions are coming. The ol’ proverbial “good” problems, I suppose. Are we sure we can’t use a 6 man rotation?

I tuned in after the third inning. One has to wonder about Julio. He seemed to roll along and suddenly BOOM! The wheels fall off. Well, as long as he can hold them off, that’s okay. Luke Jackson did this same Jeckell and Hyde act last year. At least Jonny V and Sobotka looked good last night.

The bigger question will come when Mike Soroka is ready to make his 2019 debut. At that point, some real hard decisions will have to be made. Who does he replace? It won’t be Folty, Julio or Gausy. (Are we sure Julio is a lock?)

sadly, I think there are 10,000,000 reasons to keep running him out there….I truly don’t get it…he looks “fine” for 3,4, sometimes 5 innings then, the other team lays off the sliders, and that below league average fastball is pounded…but….he can really look like he’s turned a corner for the first few innings…

Obviously Fried and/or Wright can turn in a real stinker in the next few days and change everyone’s mind on a dime. I suppose Newk is in that same boat. And there is always the possibility of the “I” word, which I will not even type here.

At any rate, I hope that when everyone is back and healthy, Thoppy and Snit will put the best 5 in the rotation regardless of age, experience and salary. And if those that are on the outside looking in can help us out of the bullpen, then thank you Lord for the bounty.

Or – and I type this with much trepidation – if Mac’s hammy is a (God forbid) long term concern, someone may have to go away to bring back a catcher.

So it’s 80 degrees in Denver today, and there is a blizzard warning for game-time tomorrow. The big concern, of course, is that this is the only Braves trip into Coors Field and that if they can’t get tomorrow’s game in, they’ll have to schedule a 1 game fly-in on a mutual off day. That would be a horrible option for the Braves, who are not exactly just around the corner from Denver. Plus, what does it mean for the team trying to fly out of Denver tomorrow with a potential blizzard afoot? Then there’s the chance they end up actually playing the game in Siberian conditions, virtually assuring that someone will get hurt.

I’ve been reading for the last 2-3 days that the weather would turn on Wednesday. If I have known it since the Braves arrived, all the suits have known it too. Why would the powers that be not have just been proactive and made today’s offering a day/night double-header under perfect baseball weather conditions and gotten the Braves out of town before snow blankets the airport?

Is it even worth questioning why the weak spot in the lineup is batting leadoff? Heck, maybe if JDon has a runner on base when he comes to bat he might see a pitch to hit. After all, despite his lack of hits, he’s walked 4 times in front of Freddie.

Yet the offense doesn’t really seem to be a problem, so I’ll leave it alone for now.

A powerful winter storm will bring heavy snow and blizzardconditions to north central and northeast Colorado today throughThursday morning. Rain and snow showers will increase this morningwith widespread rain expected by noon across the Front Range. Astemperatures fall, rain will change to snow early to mid afternoonalong the I-25 corridor. Conditions will deteriorate very quicklywhen the rain changes to snow. Roads will become snow and slushcovered leading to slippery conditions this afternoon andevening. Blowing snow will reduce visibilities to near zero thisafternoon and tonight. The evening commute will be very difficultif not impossible. Road closures will be likely.

The Aug. 26 makeup date was a previously open date for the #Braves between a 3-game road series against the Mets and a two-game series at Toronto. So they’ll take the long way from NYC to Canada. https://t.co/6rnJx0MP9V

Well, with yesterday’s game postponed, the pitching order gets scrambled a bit. Folty will no longer face deGrom on Sunday night vs. the Mets on ESPN. Now it will be youngster Max Fried. To be perfectly honest, I like the matchup. I have loved the potential of this kid since we got him from the Pads, and now he’s bearing fruit. Gausy opens the home series tonight. For Julio’s sake, I hope he fares well in the game on Saturday, also a national game on FS1 (Fox Sports 1).

As for Folty, there is no official debut game set. With most of yesterday’s Braves news focused on the weather, and with the multitude of beat writers trying to escape the Bomb Cyclone out of Denver, and granted a sudden day off, we didn’t get a whisper about Folty’s morning after. Hopefully we’ll get some clarification today.

So, let the dog fight begin, there is a three way tie for first in the NL East with the Philles, Braves and Mets all with 7-4 records and the Nats at 6-5. The Nats did to the Philles the last two night what the Phillies did to the Braves to open the season. Hang on guys, this could take a while to sort itself out…

Thought to ponder as we drift out of a slow morning into a slow afternoon…

It is more and more obvious that Thoppy isn’t going to cave into Craig Kimbrel’s demands. And I suppose I am beginning to see what he’s been saying… that we don’t need to tie up a large chunk of payroll into future years when the young arms are ready now. Because they are ready… and they’ve proven it. The youngsters are not only performing, they are excelling to the point that we are running out of spots on the active roster to put them. Which brings me to a point.

As we’ve discussed, once Folty and Mike Soroka are healthy, we are looking at a glut of pitchers for the rotation that currently counts Julio, Gausy, Newk, Max Fried and Kyle Wright. Demoting Wright for Folty isn’t that hard to deduce, but fitting Soroka in starts to get tough. And that doesn’t even take into account 2 more arms of note: Bryse Wilson and Touki Toussaint.

Wilson can easily spend more time at AAA getting “seasoned”, or more truthfully staying ready in case he’s needed in ATL. But what about Touki? Where does he fit in all this?

Bear with me for a minute… Touki features a power sinker that sits in the mid-90’s and a plus 4-seam fastball that also sits in the mid-90’s but can rise to the upper 90’s when he reaches back for a little extra. He also has a big old fashioned slow curve that comes in at about 76. His best pitch might be his splitter that is his swing-and-miss pitch. When he’s mixing all those pitches well and hitting his spots, he’s really hard to hit because hitters simply cannot sit on any particular pitch. But controlling all those pitches has been his hurdle all through the minors.

What if… what if you had him concentrate on 2, say the 4-seamer and splitter, and only on rare occasions tossing the sinker or curve just to keep batters honest? Wouldn’t he make a heckuva closer? Concentrating on 1 inning at a time might also enable him to throw that 4-seamer in the upper 90’s more often too. But the real hammer would still be the splitter.

I think it could give him a clearer shot to the roster, and give the Braves 1 more late inning door-slammer that they could really use right now.

Who’s next? Folty? Dansby? Would you believe that Freddie hits FA the same year as Folty and a year ahead of Dansby?

And now we see why the Braves clung so desperately to their precious “payroll flexibility”. With the extensions to Ronald and Ozzie, not to mention any other possible ones, the 2019 payroll continues to climb even after the season has begun. Perhaps we can no longer demean the organization as being cheap…

It’s mind-boggling to me to read the national pundits ripping AA for securing Ozzie for “less than market value”. The accusation basically says that he “used the team’s leverage to its maximum advantage”. It’s as if he held a gun to Ozzie’s head and forced him, apparently behind the agent’s back, to sign the contract.

Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Ozzie looked pretty darn happy at his press conference. And as far as I could tell, his arm wasn’t broken from any extraordinary twisting.

Isn’t using your leverage to its maximum advantage what Scott Boras does year after year?

Just talked to Folty. He will make one more rehab start with Gwinnett on Monday. Said his elbow feels great, breaking ball coming out well, but wants to run the pitch count up a bit higher. #Braves@680TheFan

If you missed it, Charlie Culberson was pinch hitting in the 8th with 1 out. Jeurys Familia threw a low and away slider that Culby appeared to check his swing on. In all fairness, it was hard to tell from the replay. Bellino called it a swing. Snit asked from the dugout for an appeal to the 1B umpire and Bellino refused. Snit felt the appeal was justified and obviously said a magic word that got him ejected. Then he got his money’s worth, as he should. Bellino looked like a whipped puppy and his whole demeanor changed.

Bellino then stepped back behind the plate and called strike 3 on Charlie on a pitch that was clearly inside. Not even close.

Now with 2 outs, and Dansby in scoring position, Johan was batting. Bellino rang up Johan on a pitch that was a good 8 inched outside. Horrible call. And rally completely snuffed.

Was it Eric Gregg bad? Nothing is Eric Gregg bad. But it sure did smack of a guy that suddenly had a chip on his shoulder.

I watched it Vee, you are right, it was a chicken s**t call. Even the guys from New York said it was a bad call, Then when Luke Jackson bounce off the mound the following inning after calling the same exact pitch a ball… Well, it was game on.

I try to respect umpires, it is a tough enough job without taking everything personal but Bellino did. Maybe he went to the Angel Henadaz school of umpiring.

An understatement if there ever was one. Newk has got to learn to throw strikes or he may well be plying his trade in Cincinnati or some such place. We all know he has done it in the past but since the post all star game in New York, he has been wilder than a March Hare.

Offense leads off with a home run by RAFAEL ORTEGA, but ANDRES SANTIAGO doesn’t have it out of the gate in his first start of the season and the home team forges a 3-1 lead. Relief shuts BATS down, but the offense can’t catch up late [8th] in a tight pitching duel going forward, and the good guys come up just short in a 3-2 loss.

F-F-FROGS are crushed by St. LUCIE METS 11-1. Ugly…..ugly loss. FROGS were out of this one early [down five after three] and it just kept snowballing downhill as the game went on. A real old fashioned butt-whipping.

Glad I missed the horrific ump the other night…glad that I caught the braves tie up the game, then put the pedal to the metal, offensively…can you believe the homer by J.D. was also his first RBI??? Meanwhile, Dansby has 18 RBI’s. I know, who cares, RBI’s are meaningless! 😛
Yep, Touki should have a spot in the rotation for at least a little while. I wonder how A.Z. fans feel about the braves buying him to help save their billionaire owner some moola?
funny, Newcomb has a 4.38 ERA, and seems like the guy to lose his spot, meanwhile, Julio T, in 3 starts, has gone 15 innings, walked 8, and has a 6.00 ERA. More worried about him longterm….would hate to lose the division, or W.C. by 2, 3 games cuz they wanted to give him dozens of starts to earn that 10 Mil….

The #Braves today recalled RHP Jacob Webb & RHP Dan Winkler from @GoStripers & placed RHP Arodys Vizcaíno on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 11, with right shoulder inflammation. The club also optioned LHP Sean Newcomb to the Stripers following last night’s game.

Now that Snit has ended the silly “Ender leading off” notion, and that Ozzie is doing the things Ozzie does – getting on base, stealing bases, creating havoc, etc. – the batting order is getting long and very dangerous.

Ozzie, JDon, Freddie and The Beast at the top? Then the eternally young Kakes, the resurgent Dansby, McFlowers, and Ender, with a sprinkling of the always potent Johan Camargo sprinkled in? I gotta tell ya, I like this lineup, and I like it alot.

And when the talented young pitching matures… well, we owe alot of thanks to Coppy even if he did screw the team internationally.

Solid game last night. 7-3 against DeGrome? who’ld have thunk it? Julio looks like he is pitching with a purpose and the “Bringer of Rain” is beginning to live up to his hype. And Nick is amazing plus Dansby being all Jetterish… Now, if only they could find a reliable closer somewhere…

Has Jonny finally reached the end? He has sadly not been effective at all this season. Even last season he was only good about 1 batter at a time. I applaud him from coming back from 24 elbow surgeries, but at some point the standings will have to take priority over the “feel good” story.

The team is off today, likely all getting their taxes done 😉 , but Folty makes what should be his final rehab start for Gwinnett tonight before finally joining the rotation next weekend. I imagine the otherwise idle Atlanta media will give this game plenty of attention… or at least the first 6 or 7 innings anyway.

The projected pitching order for tomorrow through Saturday is now Fried, Gausy, Touki, Julio and Folty on Saturday. Young Max then gets the marquis start on Sunday night ESPN vs. Tribe starter Justin Bieber. Oh wait… what? I’m sorry. That’s Tribe starter Shane Bieber. No relation. (Another note from this inter-league Native American series, Julio once again draws the opponent’s “ace” squaring off against Corey Kluber in the series opener on Friday night, right after facing Jacob deGrom. Lucky Julio.)

and V, during the pretty terrible broadcast last night (How come FOX Sports South can get it right, interview someone , and keep up with the game? was getting annoyed with Hank interview, but finally just went with the flow, and he did have some good stories the more he talked) A-Rod made a good point, a few actually. He said 33 is the new 43, and it’s true. Nick M would have helped a ton of teams, but all they looked at was his age. Hope the Dh comes around in 2020, so he can play some RF, and DH half the time….
and A-Rod and Hank talked about what their goals were after the announcer mentioned how many RBI’s Dansby had, already an ATL SS record for April, and how it’s only the middle of the month. Well in case folks mentioned it, Mr Aaron said his goals for the year were to score 100 runs, drive in 100, and hit 30, 40 HR’s.
A-Rod said same here, mainly 100 RBI’s 100 Runs….

Thanks Ber, it takes very little for me to over do it but I am busy watching Ms Josie work getting the camper opened for the season. I feel bad not being able to do much more than be a spectator but well, you know…

The last time the team had an off day, they worked out a long term extension with a young player. Maybe this time they can work out a 3 year deal with a veteran player. 😉

In all seriousness, you have to think that Thoppy is still working on locking up more core players. So who’s next? Don’t you think Folty is lined up for a long term deal? Or maybe they work on extending Freddie’s current deal… making him a Brave for life. You have to think both sides have interest in that, right?

I get the feeling this season is going to be a real roller coaster ride with all the NL East clubs getting beat up but none getting very far ahead of the others. Still going to come down to pitching me thinks.

In fairness, Carle has done what the Braves asked him to do when he was sent down… he cut down on the walks. In 2 appearances in Gwinnett (4.0 IP), he’s walked 1, given up 1 hit, 0 runs, and has a 0.50 WHIP. THus he’s earned his way back.

But here’s the bigger picture here: Braves players are no longer allowed to struggle and work out their ills on the big league roster. It has been made very clear that if you d not produce, you do not remain. Wilson: gone. Carle: gone. Wright: gone. Newk: gone. Venters: gone. Yes, I know Jonny’s a stint on the “Injured List”. But if you think he’s really injured, I’ve got some swamp front property I’d like to talk to you about. This is the Braves way of handling a veteran pitcher who cannot just be sent to AAA. And I choose to focus on the team handling Jonny with some well earned dignity over the fact that the designation might be slightly misleading.

It is a little baffling to see that the powers that be are now managing the roster in a “Win Now” manner, yet are still reluctant to do the one singular act that would make the biggest impact on the field this season, which is to bring in a real closer to stabilize the back end of the bullpen. I am not gonna beat that dead horse again. No need to.

Also, another item that cannot be overlooked is Ender Inciarte. The pitchers have all been given fairly short rope, but have the hitters? Thus far Ender had mustered a very anemic .167/.259/.292 slash line in 54 PA’s. It has cost him the leadoff spot (thank God!) already. How safe is he on this roster? Or at the very least, how safe is his starting job, especially when Johan Camargo has shown he can be a very good LF?

One has to wonder if Ender will be trade bait as the season gets a little older. Perhaps the fact that he is traditionally a slow starter will give management a reason to stick with him a little longer. Of course, that’s the same management that made a trade for a platoon partner for him last season, so it’s not like this is something new. I think the real issue here is that the Braves would love for him to produce long enough for Cristian Pache to earn a callup. Thus, the question becomes, how long?

As Gordon has no doubt related, through the first 9 games in Mississippi, Pache is slashing .333/.359/.556 with 4 stolen bases. unfortunately, it’s also with 11 K’s. One might assume that if he can cut down on those K’s, he’ll be moved on up to AAA… hopefully mid-season.

I say all that to say this: We need Ender to get it going. Because of he doesn’t, he might find himself with his own calf ailment. Actually, he does have 2 minor league options remaining. But Ender strikes me as the kind of guy that might not take that very well… kind of like the way he sulked a bit when a platoon partner was acquired last season. Bottom line for him, though, is that he holds his own destiny in his hands. Or a bat. Or both.

I was eating a late dinner with my friend David(only real baseball friend in the “real” world) and saw the braves get the lead, then give it up, (but thought the Diamondbacks missed a big opportunity, Luke stopped the blood letting nicely) then Ozzie tie it back up….assumed the braves would end up winning, but by time I went to the store and got home (no radio in 77 Regal, can’t listen on phone without paying) and found out…bullpen blew it…
gee, I guess we are lucky the Nats won’t go higher cuz…luxury tax, and that the Mets , like the braves are too cheap to win, and will keep running out their terrible lefty starter because of contract…
so that’s 3 teams that will lose several more games than they would with win first GM and more likely their bosses won’t let them do what is necessary to win …gosh, I wonder if there is one team in the NL east that will benefit from other teams cheapness????

Mike Foltynewicz will make another rehab start before rejoining the Braves rotation, manager Brian Snitker said Tuesday.

Foltynewicz showed some rust in his third rehab outing with Triple-A Gwinnett. The righty went 3-2/3, allowing six hits, five runs (four earned), walking four and striking out five. That was expected to be Foltynewicz’s final rehab outing.Instead he’ll make one more appearance to develop a rhythm. Foltynewicz, who threw 85 pitches Monday, would’ve been inserted into the rotation this weekend in Cleveland.“We’re going to give him one more start,” Snitker said. “I don’t know that it was where he wanted it to be (Monday). But I think probably one more and let him max it out. He went 85, we’ll have him do that again and maybe a little more. But it wasn’t real sharp. He’s missed a lot, all through spring training.”

(I accidentally hit reply above, so in case some missed my….brilliance 😛 ) I was eating a late dinner with my friend David(only real baseball friend in the “real” world) and saw the braves get the lead, then give it up, (but thought the Diamondbacks missed a big opportunity, Luke stopped the blood letting nicely) then Ozzie tie it back up….assumed the braves would end up winning, but by time I went to the store and got home (no radio in 77 Regal, can’t listen on phone without paying) and found out…bullpen blew it…
gee, I guess we are lucky the Nats won’t go higher cuz…luxury tax, and that the Mets , like the braves are too cheap to win, and will keep running out their terrible lefty starter because of contract…
so that’s 3 teams that will lose several more games than they would with win first GM and more likely their bosses won’t let them do what is necessary to win …gosh, I wonder if there is one team in the NL east that will benefit from other teams cheapness????

Ha! Ber you hit the nail on the head… CHEAPNESS!!!! By the time the Braves decide they finally need Kimbrel, he will be long gone… So Alex does not want to give up a draft pick but is evidently is willing to give up a couple of high level prospects for a reliever someone else no longer wants when they finally become available from the Marlins or Royals etc.

Do they think every other contender won’t be looking for the same players?

Mike Soroka was scheduled to make another start for AAA Gwinnett tonight, but has now been scratched and Kyle Wright is starting. The speculation is that Soroka will start tomorrow afternoon in Atlanta vs. the Snakes.

2 comments In saw on mlbtr after the link…When you spend 23 million bucks on a position of strength and zero on a glaring weakness you leave yourself open for criticism. Like it or not.
I have to agree, while it’s absolutely true that TBOR Is getting hot, and could very well be a key cog come crunch time….it was odd to say, more offense, but look at the bullpen , the division and say, eh….we’re good enough….

The goal of the bullpen is to stabilize as many innings as possible. You start with the 9th and work backwards. Every inning you stabilize pushes another reliever back an inning into an easier role. Easier role = more success = more confidence = better performance.

What we none professional GMs have been screaming about for a month but Damn Yankee still looking for a cheap alternative. I guess the next move will be to fire Snit… it is the way the pros work these days.

After losing closer Arodys Vizcaino to season-ending shoulder surgery Wednesday, Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos unsurprisingly acknowledged that his club will consider multiple avenues to improving what was already a struggling relief corps (links via MLB.com’s Mark Bowman and Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Atlanta, per Anthopoulos, is going to look to “do what we can … both internally and externally.”

Vague as the comment may be, the minds of all Braves fans are zeroed in on one name: free-agent Craig Kimbrel. However, both Bowman and Burns suggest that a match between Kimbrel and the Braves remains unlikely, as the team isn’t keen on inking its former closer to a multi-year pact. Cognizant of upcoming restrictions on their international spending abilities, the Braves are apparently also placing an extra emphasis on the draft pick they’d forfeit to sign Kimbrel. It’d be a surprise if that were a primary factor in their thinking, though. Atlanta already has a deep farm, and they recently ensured that their two brightest young stars will be on the roster for upwards of a decade. Stockpiling depth and trade capital is an ever-important endeavor, but draft forfeitures shouldn’t be the primary roadblock if the two sides eventually land in the same ballpark in terms of years and dollars.

It seems there’s still a gap, although Kimbrel’s precise asking price isn’t clear. A weekend report from The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal pegged Kimbrel’s price point at something in the vicinity of the three-year deals received by Wade Davis ($52MM) and Zack Britton ($39MM) over the past two offseasons, but even those contracts have a fairly notable range between them. For Atlanta, the annual value isn’t a sticking point so much as the length. A three-year deal, per Burns, “is a commitment the Braves won’t make.”

ok I will try to keep my language family friendly…but, this really P.O.’s me, as I am sure it does everyone else here.
The braves lied to us, flat out lied…Liberty and AA no doubt vote Democratic, so lying is like breathing to them…
shop in any aisle, my…..aunt Fannie.

Kurt Suzuki signed with the nats for 2 years, 10 mil.
Brian McCann, was given a fairly insulting (by baseball standards ) 2 mil deal for 1 year.
Nick Markakis , last year was in the last year of a 3 year, 11 Mil deal. I am sure someone could find out the stats he had, the WAR transferred into dollar thingy that would show, even with the slump at the end of the year, the 11 mil was a steal last year…so, how did they reward him? Like McCann, hey…if we can’t sign, or trade for someone better, we will give you around a 60% pay cut, cuz…we don’t really think you will be that good this year.
Take it or leave it…like McCann, wanted to play more than anything else (gotta love that aspect of their similar situations, as a lot of guys quit first)
Ronald Acuna, I can honestly see both sides, but, it will more than likely be a great deal for the braves, so-so for Acuna….the Ozzie deal…honestly I cannot believe his agent let him sign it. He gets a tiny bit more in 2020 (1 mil) and 2021, 3 mil than he could get in Arbitration (couldn’t go next year) but, he will never earn more than 7 mil thru his age 28 season, and then the braves have the option of signing him for the next 2 years for the same 7 mil!!! So, unless there is some sort of re-negotiation if he hitting 25-30 HR’s every year, always an all-star, he has shot himself in the foot, cuz no one will give a big contract for a hitter on the wrong side of 30…but, no one put a gun to his head…
so, saved 3 mil on Suzuki , 7 mil on Nick M, a savings of 10 million this year on the catchers spot and RF .
2020 thru 2022,(heck, if they signed Kimbrel for 3 years, it would end in 2021, right?) they only have to pay Ozzie 8 million!!! 6 million will go to Acuna thru 2021 (he does get a raise to 15 mil in 2022)
so, do you see what I see? a ton of money saved at 2nd base, Catcher, LF, RF, a 3rd baseman that we assume won’t be getting 23 mil in 2020….so, who gets paid anything???? FF? He’s only signed thru 2021…
Congrats Thoppy…you played hardball with a few vets, somehow got 2 budding superstars to give the team crazy good deals they can’t opt out of it appears….you have a dirt cheap team, that is quite competitive, no thanks to your drafting. You have been handed the keys to a Ferrari, and it feels like the ownership has told you in private, hey…no sense putting in the premium gas , it’ll still run on regular….
are they trying to make us the next Pirates? the Rays of the NL East? We are not that cheap, but come on….a clear need is a real closer, IF you want to go deep in the playoffs…but, you won’t even get the W.C. if your bullpen blows games on back to back nights, on a regular basis. Can one of the many starters be turned into a closer? Sure, it could happen. but, it’s kinda hard to turn kids into closers in late April, and what if they get screwed up like Neftali Feliz did? or Joba Chamberlain? I mean, if there was no Kimbrel, of course you would go with a plan b, or make a trade once someone was willing to trade a closer in June/July…but, let me beat this dead horse again. the whole NL east, save for the Florida team, are good, very good…hey, a team that lost their All world 1st baseman to the Cards, their best starter to the Nats, and their CF’er to the Dodgers, is 8-9 after beating the braves 2 in a row. The NL east Division champs of 2018 are 9-9. It’s getting late early and I fear A.A. et al don’t really care…..

You are responding to a media report that is speculative at best. The current narrative surrounding the Braves – deserved or not – is that they are cheap, especially from MLBTR. In fact, I guessed that the commentary was written by Steve Adams before I even clicked over to look at it directly. That guy simply doesn’t like the Braves and has never even tried to hide his disdain. I’ve seen it time and time again, especially in his chats. He was the first to suggest that AA “used the team’s leverage to its maximum effect” to screw over Ozzie Albies on the recent contract extension, a notion that is completely absurd. Yet it has been picked up and echoed by media across the nation. Now this same media, recognizing that it is a very hot topic for Braves fans right now, are ginning it up to their own maximum benefit. Reality drawn from perception… the way news is created in 2019.

Notice that he doesn’t even give specific evidence, rather the opinion piece is rife with words such as “apparently”, “seems”, and “isn’t clear”. Adams simply has a point to make and he’s taking whatever pieces he can get from Burns and Bowman and piecing them together to make a “hot take”. Again, no specific evidence, just speculation. And hype.

Another case in point: Regarding Craig Kimbrel, I have seen in print from a guy who has a pay-to-read site – no names, but a guy who loves to cite his own sources – that the Braves aren’t afraid to lose the associated draft pick, but won’t commit the dollars. The same guy said a week later that the Braves would consider signing only after the draft so that they wouldn’t lose the draft pick. Which is correct? Does it matter to the writer?

Now I’m not one to make broad accusations, but it’s not hard to see that this guy, who stands to make more money off increased readership, seems to echo on his web site the “outrage of the day”. Coincidence?

Maybe I’m just a cynical old coot, but I no longer trust any news source that stands to gain from swaying public opinion. And that’s most of them, including sports sites.

For me personally, I’ll allow this to play out. I recognize that each of the Mets, Phils and Nats have the same bullpen deficiencies. All have lost key pieces to the pens and had others struggle mightily. This is a common theme across MLB, not just Atlanta. Yet none of them are rushing to get Craig’s signature either. Are they shying away because the “Braves are cheap”? No, the common denominator is the other side of the equation – Craig Kimbrel.

I don’t like being lied to either, Ber. But I think I hate worse being manipulated by my emotions. It’s low hanging fruit. And it’s sadly the playbook of most media in 2019.

V, that may very well be true about Adams, but Gabe Burns(linked in that MLBTR post) seems to think there is little chance of a reunion . And I hate hearing Thoppy’s and Burns excuses about how they didn’t think they would be down 5 guys from the bullpen. Well…they thought Sam Freeman was going to turn it around? 36 year old Darren O’Day was going to be a super stud after missing most of last year? Vizcaino was 100% lock to be healthy? fact is bullpens always have turnover from year to year,(injuries and stuff disappearing ) and as we know from watching other teams that want to go deep in the playoffs, you have to get more quality arms during the off season. The fact is, AA is not some guy with a long history of building championship caliber teams…he’s just a GM, who made good moves and terrible moves….
But Gabe acts like Kimbrel is not really the answer…well, Eric O is a bit more on the ball than young Gabe on what teams need….nothing, NOTHING deflates a team more than a bullpen that blows leads….won’t happen in April, but if this is happening in June/July…https://www.ajc.com/sports/baseball/braves-need-bullpen-help-but-the-answer-isn-clear/ay2oNBwuE31BBrK72M57LM/

Well, we can only deal with what is here and now. Until Kimbrel signs with somebody, we can’t point to any single GM as having an agenda outside of winning. Thus far, none of the other 29 GM’s has done anything different than Thoppy with regard to Kimbrel. As I opined earlier, Kimbrel (and his agent) is the common denominator. Thus, it makes more sense to point to his own demands as his biggest impediment to his finding a job.

Mike Soroka is officially scheduled to start today’s game, but is not officially on the ML roster yet. Obviously a corresponding move must be made, and it’s not likely to be the sucking Jesse Biddle as he has no minor league options remaining. Plus, Biddle and Minter are the only LH in the pen, and with Minter being the only “closer” we have Biddle stands alone as the LH specialist. Houston, we have a problem. (Not that Houston cares.)

Young Jacob Webb is likeliest to go back to AAA.

Perhaps when Folty rejoins the rotation, Touki might be considered for some high leverage late inning relief. I think he could be really tough 1 inning at a time. At least the Braves have some young arms to consider for relief options. The Phils, Nats and Mets have no such resources.

And not far behind is 24-year-old LH Grant Dayton, who is being brought along slowly after recovering from TJ. He has been very good in 2.0 IP at AAA Gwinnett striking out 3, walking 0, and allowing 0 hits. He will be a viable option soon.

Soroka totaled 49 and 70 pitches in his first two starts for Gwinnett. So, he'll be available for at least 90 pitches this afternoon. Both lefties (Minter and Biddle) are likely unavailable. Sobotka, Winkler, Jackson and Parsons will be today's high-leverage options

from the comments at MLBTR…Why? Because they agree with Every Other Team that Kimbrel is not worth what he is asking for?
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Reply

No because this entire offseason we were promised that the resources are there to get what’s needed and we didn’t do one move to address the weakest area on the team. If we made 2 bullpen upgrades this offseason in a bullpen rich market, we could have come away spending way less than what Kimbrel is asking and dramatically improve the bullpen. That’s why they are cheap af. They refused to even make reasonable smart moves. Now kimbrel is all that appears left and of course we don’t want to spend that cash on him and as great as he is, he’s only 1 guy. That entire bullpen minus Parson is a train wreck right now </i>

I think that is a good point too….all the dead money that came off the books, all the moola saved by going cheap with McCann and Nick M, and Thoppy thought a good enough bullpen(if no one got hurt, no one started to stink) would get the job done, put us in the playoffs????
all Thoppy is good at it appears is saving Liberty money….prove me wrong Thoppy, prove me wrong…

gah!!!!
what disappeared…..well
Why? Because they agree with Every Other Team that Kimbrel is not worth what he is asking for?

No because this entire offseason we were promised that the resources are there to get what’s needed and we didn’t do one move to address the weakest area on the team.

If we made 2 bullpen upgrades this offseason in a bullpen rich market, we could have come away spending way less than what Kimbrel is asking and dramatically improve the bullpen.
That’s why they are cheap af. They refused to even make reasonable smart moves.
Now kimbrel is all that appears left and of course we don’t want to spend that cash on him and as great as he is, he’s only 1 guy.
That entire bullpen minus Parson is a train wreck right now

son of a sea captain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No because this entire offseason we were promised that the resources are there to get what’s needed and we didn’t do one move to address the weakest area on the team.If we made 2 bullpen upgrades this offseason in a bullpen rich market, we could have come away spending way less than what Kimbrel is asking and dramatically improve the bullpen.That’s why they are cheap af. They refused to even make reasonable smart moves.Now kimbrel is all that appears left and of course we don’t want to spend that cash on him and as great as he is, he’s only 1 guy.That entire bullpen minus Parson is a train wreck right now

Good afternoon all, interesting reading the opinions of both Vee and Ber. Excellent points made. I concur, along with a large majority of Braves fans that we all hate being lied to. And we were that, lied too. Great, the Braves saved a ton of money… To what end? To what purpose?

The Braves bull pen is a disaster area. It didn’t have to be that way…

Just a quick point I would like to make, every issue we see now on the field was evident in spring training and not one issue was resolved.

The Braves will be lucky to come home from their next road trip at .500

re-reading my comically screwed up posts above, I realized it was clear as mud that this part was my part…if I sound like an angry blogger..it’s cuz I am! 😉

I think that is a good point too….all the dead money that came off the books, all the moola saved by going cheap with McCann and Nick M, and Thoppy thought a good enough bullpen(if no one got hurt, no one started to stink) would get the job done, put us in the playoffs????
all Thoppy is good at it appears is saving Liberty money….prove me wrong Thoppy, prove me wrong…

now…anger aside…what if anything will the braves do NOW???? (ok, a wee bit of anger there still) has anyone heard? Just keep running out the same guys hoping they will now find their control? I mean, it’s true, it’s still only April, but say the Phils got Kimbrel…game over, forget the division, we’d have to fight for the W.C. We all know how well that 1 game goes for the bravos…..

He is living large against AA pitchers. I expect him to be bumped up by mid-season. He’s currently slashing .333/.377/.688 with 2 HR’s over the last 2 nights while catching everything within the same Zip Code.

so, out for dinner and it was 7-0…so, awhile later checked the score online….hmmm, 7-5, 2 outs in the 9th…well, I guess I can flip by for the last out, at least they came back a bit….the walk bug bit the Indians this game. Bases loaded, and FF walked…Flowers scored, 7-6! Acuna up, and…..a double drives in 2, braves up 8-7!!! Holy Toledo! Turned out, the braves scored 5 runs, after 2 were out!!! Minter came in, and didn’t screw up, pitched like, dare I say it? A closer!

Okay, raise your hand if you are like me and could do without the phony sound effects of glove popping and bat hitting the ball on ESPN. Also would be beneficial if they actually had someone who could call a game as announcers.

While I expected a good game from Fried last night, I was shocked at how easily the Braves handled the Tribe. Wow…

Best pitcher on the roster right now. Easily. He has not only established himself as a fixture in the rotation, he has elevated himself to the current stopper. Ace? Well, no. That term is tossed around too liberally. But potential ace? I don’t see why not. He’s legit. His stuff is legit, and his head seems to be legit. If he can continue his consistency, he can be the staff ace if not more.

In case you missed it, over the weekend, Touki was demoted back to AAA and Bryce Wilson was brought back. Unless I’m off base here [pun fully intended], Wilson will work out of the bullpen and Folty will fill in the vacated rotation spot, possibly Friday at home vs. the Rockies. It’s possible for Saturday if Snit opts to keep Fried on 5 days rest. But the typical MO for this administration is to take advantage of extra days off. That plus the fact that they are surely mindful to manage Fried’s innings adds up to a Friday Folty start.

Much as I hate to point this out, Fried has only topped 100 IP twice as a pro, first in 2013 with 118.2, followed by TJ surgery and a couple of years of recovery and rehab. He threw 103.0 with low-A Rome in 2016. Since then, he’s been up and down with the ATL team and working out of the pen such that he hasn’t been stretched out for an entire season.

All that said, I don’t think 150-160 innings is an unreasonable target for him this season.

Anthopoulos said last week that they're not going on the hard innings limit w/ pitchers, the next-year 20-30 inn. increase limit and all that. Said it's not proven to be effective in preventing injuries. They're going case-by-case basis, checking with guys as the season goes on. https://t.co/yizboMWEBl

And speaking of Folty, I’m not too concerned with his fairly pedestrian numbers against a AAA team yesterday. The only number I really care about is 89, the number of pitches he threw without pain or discomfort.

V, I wouldn’t be that worried about Fried jumping up inningswise as he is 25, and should be truly a grown man, set in place physically, so to speak….I do worry about 20,21, 22, 23 year olds though, unlike A.A….no reason to risk their health cuz, no proof in his eyes….

We’re suffering from the rookie-arm blues. This will go on for several more years I think.
I’m amazed JULIO has been as consistently effective as he has so far this season. Good for him….and us!
Great to get KEVIN GAUSMAN back and effective.
MIKE FOLTYNEWICZ has been struggling to get into baseball shape down in LAWRENCEVILLE.
I guess NEWCOMB needs time to reflect on his future. Hopefully, he returns with a will to succeed.
TOUKI TOUSSAINT has passed his first rookie test I think. Should be in the rotation as a regular by 2021.
KYLE WRIGHT is much the same, and on that timeline also I believe.
Whither LUIZ GOHARA? Haven’t heard much, have you?
I’m wondering if DARREN O’DAY will ever toe the slab in ATLANTA.
Mention of these last two brings me around to the bullpen, I’m sorry to say.
Good to see A.J. MINTER coming around.
AROLDYS VIZCAINO may be gone except for a last hurrah. I think his arm has turned to…..what pitchers’ arms turn to when grossly overused.
JONNY VENTERS days are numbered. He’s done ala PETE MOYLAN.
DAN WINKLER? Will he ever amount to anything?
SHANE CARLE doesn’t look too good either long-term.
LHRP THOMAS BURROWS is trying to get some traction in AAA, but he’s a season removed from ATLANTA.
RHRP CORBIN CLOUSE has blown a tire on his trip to ATLANTA.
Both these guys are less advanced than I had hoped over the winter.
I sincerely hope AA has the where with all to bring CRAIG KIMBREL back come June.
And SP DALLAS KUECHEL as well on a short-term make-good contract.

I sincerely hope AA has the where with all to bring CRAIG KIMBREL back come June.

I’m in, but only on terms that are consistent with the team’s goals. There is a reason that all 30 teams are loathe to guarantee 3 years on these pitchers. (Foreshadowing something to come. Stay tuned.)

And SP DALLAS KUECHEL as well on a short-term make-good contract.

This is where we disagree. Whether or not Folty’s numbers at AAA were especially sparkling, he’s still an All-Star starter and will return healthy to the rotation this week. Kevin Gausman has proven to be an effective starter. Max Fried is the best starter we currently have, and Mike Soroka may be #2 by mid-season. That leaves one open spot, which Julio occupies. Personally, I am not a big Julio fan, but he may be at least as good an option as Dallas Keuchel, and at a cheaper rate on a short term. Problem is, we don’t know what DK offers. Nobody does. And despite the fact that DK has been throwing simulate games every 5 days, it’s not the same as being in a major league environment against major league batters. I read yesterday that most execs estimate it’ll take DK up to a month to be ready to face major league batters. At that point, lesser teams will begin to make their players available for mid-season trade, further diminishing DK’s market. But I’ve gotten off on a rabbit trail…

The point is, DK won’t significantly improve this team, especially at the contract terms he’s demanding. The Braves have enough starting options in-house now that we’re back to full health.

As for Julio specifically, he’s short timing it with the Braves anyway. There’s a better chance that AOC earns a degree in Economics than there is of the Braves picking up Julio’s 2020 option.

I purposely did not mention Sean Newcomb in the previous post about the rotation. Newcomb is at a crossroads in his career in Atlanta. He arguably has the best “stuff” of all the young arms, but has never been able to consistently control it. That has been the knock on the kid his entire pro career. Would he benefit from a change in environment? Well, he came to the Braves from the Angels’ organization with the same rap – great stuff, poor control, and nothing changed. Newk must grow from thrower to pitcher if he ever wants to gain some traction in a ML rotation. I’m not sure that will be in Atlanta.

Which also brings to mind another option. Do you take a kid with 4 good to plus pitches and pare them down to 2, and make him a reliever? He relies primarily on a good 4-seam fastball, and works a changeup off of that, while also mixing in a curve and a slider. According to Brooks Baseball, who tracks such things, his slider generates an extremely high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers’ sliders. His curve, to the contrary, generates very few swings-and-misses but does generate alot of fly balls… many of which fly far. The same is said of his changeup.

So why not take the kid and concentrate on that 4-seamer and that plus slider, and make him a late inning reliever? It’s a time tested formula. It might also be his best chance to remain with the Braves, where he has already been passed by Fried and Soroka, with Kyle Wright and Ian Anderson approaching quickly.

Atlanta certainly has their share of “beat writers”, from the ajc’s youngster Gabe Burns to the guy he replaced, David O’Brien, now of The Athletic. In there also is Mark Bowman, who works for MLB, but is the local guy here in Atlanta. But sometimes I wonder if Bow is really plugged in. I’ve noticed a number of occasions lately when the information he was “hearing” was in conflict with things the others were hearing, and in conflict with what the team eventually did.

Today, though, he’s straying into some really weird territory. He makes the following observation: “Later this week, the Braves might be deciding between Soroka and Newcomb. They’ll evaluate tomorrow’s start and then decide whether he or Newcomb would be a better option next Tuesday against the Padres.”

Mark might want to start paying more attention to what’s going on inside the lines and less attention to the team’s buffet tables. As long as Mike Soroka remains healthy, he isn’t leaving the Braves rotation.